A Slipspace Occurrence
by Lizburn
Summary: When a Slipspace portal sucks the four Spartans of the original Blue Team into a new Universe, they'll find themselves fighting Collectors, Geth and a foe they can relate to. The fate of humanity falls to Commander Shepard's team, and to the Spartans of the UNSC, once again.
1. Chapter 1: Welcome to Tuchunka

Prologue

"Chief, what do you remember?"

"About Requiem?"

"No, everything Chief. What can you remember? Starting from the beginning."

Yet another hour of bullshit psychiatry. Lying on the table, staring at the blue painted ceiling wasn't how Chief wanted to spend his time off. There were too many things going on to consider it. The Elite rebels were still out there, and he wanted to find them. More unactivated Forerunner devices to be dismantled or captured. So many things.

And here he was talking about his life story.

What was there to tell?

His life wouldn't be possible without a little luck for sure…

* * *

Chapter 1: a slipspace occurrence

The fact of the matter is, the mind doesn't know how to react to new sights. A brand new ideal imposed upon it causes it to retreat to what it knows, working from the ground up. A safety protocol so to say. An ideal spawned from ideas. The ultimate fall-back. Above the dusty battered plains of the planet glowed a small beacon of light, sparkling brighter with each passing second, growing and growing until the beacon of light was a hole in the sky rippling with gases and radiation. And from that hole came another light, a light that produced only the smallest of lights, expanding from its portal, falling to the red planet while the occupants screamed for clarity. The mind falling back on itself. But what can the mind do when there is nothing to relate to? Nothing at all in the same situation.

The answer?

Open its eyes.

* * *

On the red sky of Tuchunka's horizon the ship burrowed into the atmosphere, ripping away clouds in its attempt to destroy the small patch of unnoticed land in the vast desert. Crashing, it flew up plumes up dust thirty meters high, spilling and distorting the landscape of the plains. It wasn't a big ship, but it did have a crap pilot.

The hatch on the side popped open, or a better phrase would be 'was kicked open' and out strode a figure. Tall, and clad in magnificent armour, it took off its helmet, majestically rose and-.

Threw up into the ground. It retched and the blonde hair, cropped closely to her head rose up, staring around the barren landscape. Another of the figures patted her lightly on the back as she threw up again, feeling extremely nauseous by the whole ordeal. A slight groan and a wave of her hand indicated that she was feeling better.

"Jesus Christ…" Muttered Kelly, "Is this what you felt like after four years Chief?"

"Sort of, if you count burning an blistering skin as the same as nausea."

"You make it sound horrible, but I can guarantee that you needed some rest," Fred chimed in.

"I don't need rest," said the ever-energetic Linda.

"That's because you go for a quick nap when you're sniping in your perches," Kelly teased.

After the joking died down, they observed their surroundings, gazing over the vast expanse of desert around them. Mile after mile of red desert, but in the distance, a small, abandoned looking town. That didn't exactly heighten their chances. Beginning their long walk, Fred was the only one who lingered, staring at the crash site before shouldering his weapon and walking on. The city was a speck in the distance, but a good jog should yield them results in no time. Wasn't like they needed to hurry.

* * *

Commander Shepard of the SSV Normandy 2 , Systems Alliance, really wished some help would hurry.

He was hunkered down behind a large slab of fallen building, watching as shots spewed from enemy rifles smashed bits of rock around him to dust, seeing Garrus take pot-shots with his sniper rifle and Grunt yelling obscenities and throwing grenades. An ambush. How did he not see it? It was obvious, narrow position, little cover, good firing lines, it was an amazing position to kill them, and considering they just pissed off the Blue Suns in a very large way, he doubted they had much chance of escaping intact.

He fired off a burst from his M8-Avenger, feeling the reassuring metal in his hands as he tried the comms again and again. They were obviously blocked, but they had been cut off in the ambush, hopefully Miranda or Joker realised something was wrong. There was no way they could hold off, and the mech the Blue Suns had brought with them just continued raining missiles from the nearby building. There was no way out.

Nearby him, Grunt cried out in ain as a round pierced his right shoulder. He grunted, yelling in rage as he picked up a piece of rubble, chucking it at the nearest Blue Suns mercenary. It impacted on the man, causing him to be crushed in his own armour. Grunt yelled, but felt himself slowing down, and took cover quickly behind a nearby piece of building. There was no way out. This was how they died.

And then the mech exploded.

* * *

"Did Fred…just rugby tackle a mech?" The Chief asked incredulously.

They managed to quickly realise the Blue Suns were the terrorists while the human and two aliens were official an official army, as the man wore an official insignia, and while it might have been different symbol, the signature for humanity was almost universal. It didn't worry him though; the fact that Fred decided the only way to kill the mech was to chuck it off a building gave him the itch to laugh.

Kelly opened fire, two guards rippled with bullets as a sniper shot rang out, the sound of Linda getting another headshot. The Chief moved up the edge, watching as Fred slowly rose from the wreckage, drawing his rifle and using it to smash the helmet of a troop off nearby. They didn't know the name of the mercenaries, but they had some of the worst camouflaged armour the Chief had ever seen. White and blue might work if you're flying, not in a desert.

Overall, the result was the Blue Suns in a panic, obviously not expecting the sudden change of people attacking them. They had the advantage a minute ago, and now they were being attacked from two different sides. The leaders of their squads called them to hold the line, and the sound of a dropship being swivelled around was heard, the door opening up and firing on the Spartans. Hiding behind cover, Kelly took a peak at the distance between the building they were on and the dropship. She steadied herself.

"Kelly…this is a bad idea."

"Most of our ideas are," she replied.

Breaking into a sprint, the Blue Suns mercenaries could barely keep track of her as she sprinted straight towards the dropship. She darted from side to side as one of the mercenaries screamed at the pilot to move the ship away, but too little too late; she jumped into the troop compartment.

There were four mercenaries in all, and the first swung his rifle. Kelly grabbed the barrel, ripping it out of his hands and kicking him out of the dropship. She swung around, smashing the face of another mercenary with the rifle and then kicked the face of the third. The third stumbled, firing off several rounds which shimmered over Kelly's shields, and the fourth mercenary smacked his rifle off of her head. Slightly stunned, she kicked out at him and heard a satisfying crunch as her heel met his ankle. She then grabbed the third man and chucked him out with both hands, aiming her rifle at the cockpit of the ship. The pilot stumbled out, and was met by a hailstorm of bullets ripping through him and destroying the controls inside the cockpit. The shuttle began to turn and tumble in mid-air, and the figure of Kelly was seen leaping out of the ship as it exploded, impacting off the side of the building into fragments.

The Blue Suns down in the ruins began to panic, firing off shots at the surrounding areas. The Commander, Grunt and Garrus returned fire, each of them on their last thermal clip, pinging shots off of walls and cover to draw mercenaries out into the open. Kinetic barriers were ripped to shreds as the sound of a sniper rifle rung out from Linda, each shot impacting into the centre of mass of each mercenary, every man and woman slowly being whittled down by the unrelentless onslaught of the Spartan assault. Mercenaries scrambled to every side, trying to find a way out in the confusion as dust rose up from the shattered ruins, only to find themselves in CQC with Fred, who had just got out of the mech wreckage. Bones and body parts were broken and shattered as the Spartan turned a desperate fire fight into a panicky CQC match in dust and smoke.

Eventually, after the last mercenary fell to the ground, the dust settled, and the Commander was left facing the four impassive Spartans, who stood a foot above Grunt, their rifles slung over their shoulders. The Commander was still hyped up on adrenaline, so it was understandable he wasn't exactly grateful of the sudden appearance of never before seen super soldiers.

"Who the hell are you?" He addressed the obvious leader.

"Sierra 117, Petty Officer Master Chief, of the UNSC. Our ship crashed landed around a mile back."

The Commander was taken back. UNSC? Master Chief? What was the number designation about? Something wasn't right here, but he also wasn't comfortable sitting in the ruins of a Krogan city. The bodies of mercenaries lay about and for all he knew, not every one of them could be dead. Better to play it safe for now.

"I think you better come with us, er…Master Chief. It sounds like we all have a bit of explaining to do."


	2. Chapter 2: A Fine Welcome

Chapter 2: A fine welcome.

The Normandy wasn't a crowded ship, but even the shuttle bay felt a little squashed with the four armoured giants standing amoung them. The Commander had Garrus, Miranda, Mordin and Samara with him, and EDI had displayed herself as a hologram.

"So let me get this straight," The Commander continued, "You crash landed on a ship that uses an engine none of us know about, coming from a military organisation nobody knows about, that just survived a horrific war with a collection of alien races…_that nobody knows about?"_

"That's the jist of it," Fred replied. He was the best Spartan when it came to talking to people, well the best _alive_, but that didn't matter. The other three Spartans stood at his side, as he explained the situation as best as he could to the Commander and his crew.

"And these weapons you use? Stubber rounds? No form of energy projectiles?" The Commander continued. Questions to ask, oh questions to ask…

"We have energy weapons back home, but what we're using is an MA5B assault rifle…well, the best version so far. UNSC protocol dictated that after the Human-Covenant war, all ships had to have some sort of weapon on them. MA5Bs were in good numbers, so we used them. Of course, these are the Spartan models. Upgraded ammunition, faster firing speed, etc. Ripped through a good few hinge-heads with these."

The Commander nodded slowly, digesting the information. The hanger bay was silent except for the steady beep of the shuttle, or the lights humming along the floor and ceiling. He could see Tali from here, standing with Engineer Donnolly at the glass, looking down at the meeting.

"Alright…we have a way of testing this. We're going to look at your memories."

The Spartans didn't move to the statement, but Fred frowned. He was the only one with his helmet off, and seemed to realise that meant him.

"Shit."

"Come over here Spartan. This will only take a minute if you cooperate."

The Chief was still digesting the three aliens before him, his hands clenching and tensing every few seconds. It was uncomfortable, seeing such diversity between them, it reminded him of the Covenant, only this bloody time humans were in it. Something stroke him as wrong, but he put it down to just nerves. He hoped he was right, at least for now.

"This is Samara," pointing to the blue female. That was interesting. "She'll…well, combine her mind with you is a simplistic way of putting it, and she'll be able to confirm whether or not you're telling the truth. This will only take a few seconds."

Fred nodded, ever willing to what he thought was a good idea, without consulting or with it, walked up to the blue alien. She had to stretch to reach eye level with him, but she did. The air felt colder, a strange sensation brushing his face. Her eyes closed, and he stood deathly still.

It was only after they shot open did he black out.

The Chief physically moved as the alien whispered "Embrace Eternity" making Fred go a bit limp. Linda stood up first, walking over to Fred and placing a firm hand on his shoulder, trying to stop what was happening. Garrus grabbed her wrist.

"I wouldn't do that. I'll spare you all the mental and psychological crap Liara told me, but basically, bad idea to stop the connection."

Linda tensed, and took a step back, watching as the process finished with Fred, stumbling backwards into the arms of Kelly.

Samara didn't look well, clutching her head and shutting her eyes tight. "They…they tell the truth Shepard. It…it might be a good idea…"

"Garrus, take Samara back upstairs. That's all for now."

"Alright Shepard."

As Garrus hooked an arm around Samara, pulling her away, Shepard turned to the Spartans. He looked them over, and nodded slowly.

"I saw the way you all can fight. If Samara says your story fits…then, you may be useful."

"Exactly what do you mean by that?"

"We have a mission to complete. A race of aliens called the Collectors are kidnapping human colonies, taking and maybe killing hundreds of thousands of lives. I'm putting together a team to stop them. All I know is that they may be connected to an even larger threat, which I'll explain later. I need the best of the best, and by the looks of it…you're just that."

The Spartans mused silently. They knew what they were in. A new universe. New possibilities. Disconnected from all they knew. A chance to start over? Or a chance to fix yet another struggle for survival?

"Just like that?"

"No strings attached?"

The Commander nodded.

"Alright Commander. We're in. Like the look of your rifle by the way."

The Spartans chose the Shuttle bay as their new home, picking an alcove to store their things. Possessions and things they didn't need but wanted were piled away in a corner. The actual majority of the space they took up was covered with ammunition and dismantled guns, parts and armour. The Spartans looked over every aspect, examining them all and comparing it to the equipment they had currently.

The Commander stood in the briefing/communications room, talking to his teammates.

"I don't know if this is such a good idea…" Tali commented, leaning against a railing.

"I saw what they can do, they moved faster and more quickly than any other unit I know," Garrus countered.

"You know this is dangerous. What if these Spartans learn what Cerberus has done in the past? What if they turn on us? You shouldn't be so hasty," Miranda muttered.

The room was filled with bits and pieces of information and opinions, the Commander taking in each one. They had a choice: Send the Spartans to the Alliance…or bring them on the mission.

"Spartans much like Krogan in sense. Problematic, but still, useful in times of stress. Signs of heavy military action suggests fractured psychological state, should run tests, but they seem surprisingly resilient."

"These damn giants saved Shepard, me and the Turian," Grunt growled. "They took down a Mech like it was nothing, and that woman killed four of them in CQC like they were an annoyance. Not enemies."

"They don't have any biotic implants, and they seem a bit…closed off," Jack noted. "I may be a bitch, but I'm a cooperating and open bitch. I tell you what's on my mind. These Spartans might just be waiting."

"Look, EDI's located the Reaper IFF tag. I'll take two of them, see how they perform. If we're lucky, they'll cooperate. We won't know anything until we give them a chance in the field. I know it seems like I'm acting hastily here, but I needed to keep them occupied. If they are enemies, the best we can do is stall them until we're ready to go. We'll find out soon enough where their loyalty lies."

Dr. Chakwas stepped forward. "I looked them over with the omni-tool. Each one of them has physical and mental changing implants inside them, similar to you Commander but much more…odd. Each one has a side effect, nothing too serious, but it's like they're soldiers, not people. Machines with flesh if I'd have to say."

"You should take one of us as well, just in case something goes wrong," Garrys added regarding the mission. "I don't think you'll be able to take two of them on at once."

"I'll take you and Tali, Garrus. We'll need you to shut off those shields. Tali can use her drone to cover us if we need to run from them. We're in the dark more than I'd like us to be if I'm honest."

"We're right behind you Shepard. If anything goes wrong, we've got your back." Garrus made the faint hint of a smile on his damaged face, the action making his eyebrow rise.

Tali nodded, standing up from the railing. She didn't comment, but he knew what it meant.

"Alright team, dismissed. We'll meet here again once the mission is completed. I'll send a report on the mission to you Miranda, edit it and send it to the Illusive Man for debriefing. Dismissed."

The team broke off, heading their own ways to whatever room they had taken as their own on the ship.

**Codex entries:**

**HUMAN-COVENANT WAR: **The war between the humans and the Covenant lasted the upper-hand of 30 years and finally ended when Spartan 117, or John, the Master Chief, managed to destroy the Ark with the last Covenant leader on it. The Master Chief was pronounced KIA after six months of him missing in action, and he eventually turned up near Requiem, a Forerunner shield world previously unknown in the human-covenant war. The war began when a Brute/Jiralhanae ship stumbled across the farming world of Harvest, and upon a misunderstanding of fire and relics according to the brutes, started the war. It is unknown why humanity was never invited in the join the Covenant, only that the Covenant referred to them as 'heretics' and destroyer of relics.

**MA5B ASSUALT RIFLE: **The MA5B Assault rifle was heavy gas operated rifle with a sixty round magazine, firing off 15 7.92mm rounds a second. The weapon was wildly used in the human covenant war by marines, before being scrapped for the newer MA5Cs and MA5Ds. After the war, every human ship was ordered to have some sort of weapon for protection in case of attack, and the MA5Bs were a popular choice, being easy to find and relatively easy to handle in a combat situation.

**MJOLNIR MRK 7 ARMOUR: **The Mrk 7 MJOLNIR armour is similar to the last two versions in three ways: It has plenty of armour, it has tough shields adapted from Covenant shield technology and it has an AI port to connect with the user. The Mrk 7 however, has several advantages, like the new hardlight mode, which encases the user in a shield of hardlight, making the armour extremely tough and durable to all forms of damage. Unfortunately, this encases the user, and prevents movement, so it is only to be used in areas of extreme danger. A last resort for all remaining Spartans.


	3. Chapter 3: The Mission

(Alright guys, Chapter 3! First off, I want to say thanks for all the feedback. A few matters to address:

Yeah, I know the Spartans were accepted really quickly, but I wasn't any good with that kind of stuff.

Someone said the Spartans are talking too much, but the Spartans have barely talked to anyone besides themselves. The Spartans treat each other as family remember.

Not everything will be lore directed exactly. The Mrk 7 armour isn't lore Mrk 7, as well as certain things doing more damage.

That's really it guys, thanks for reading!)

Chapter 3: The mission

The interior of the shuttle was eerily quiet as the five crew members sat inside it. The massive Reaper lay dead, almost motionless in space as it drifted quietly. The tendrils lay covered in construction and supports running along the black armour, where the Cerberus team had set up their base of operations to study the Reaper. Garrus growled.

"I have a bad feeling about this Shepard…"

"It's the only way Garrus. Master Chief, are you and your squadmate assured of what we're looking for?"

The Chief was silent, flicking a hand towards Linda. Linda nodded slightly, only the barely noticeable gesture causing the Chief to turn back to Shepard.

"We're ready to work," and with that, tugged a small part of his rifle fully back. Shepard stared at the rifle, surprised the Spartans were using it. They had such limited ammunition for them, even with the supplies salvaged from their crashed ship. Shepard donned his helmet, as well as Garrus.

"Alright then. Tali, Chief, you both take point. Garrus and Linda, cover us with your rifles. Tell us what you see at all times. I'll stay in the middle of the group, and make sure that nothing sneaks up on the sides of us. ."

It was a good plan, and it also meant they had better positions than the Spartans in case something went wrong. They'd need every advantage if they were lying to Shepard's crew.

The shuttle landed, and with a puff of smoke, it flew off again, leaving Shepard and the rest of the team facing the door into the facility. It slid open flawlessly, all of them entering in without a sound of complaint from the door itself. Strange.

"Everything's in working order Shepard, no sign of power shortage…" Garrus commented.

"Looks all clear, but I've found an audio log," Linda reported.

The video was short but interesting. It was basically the scientists starting to…feel a bit nervous around the dead Reaper. What was to fear? Something was a bit mysterious.

"Huh…seems like…indoctrination?" Tali whispered.

"Indoctrination? The thing were these Reapers control the minds of organics?" Linda asked.

"Basically…but a lot more dangerous than that simple explanation."

Movement was heard behind them, the team swivelling around. Shepard ordered them to move upwards, walking into a large open area, with what seemed to be…an altar at the end? That was disturbing.

But not as disturbing as the things crawling out of the floor.

"Husks!" Shepard yelled, beginning to open fire as the rest of the team did also. Bullets tore into the husks, ripping their mottled blue-grey skin to shreds as newer ones appeared, covered in a red skin colour. One of them seemed to be burning with fire.

This particular one came up behind Linda, swinging a fist. She ducked, kneeing it in the gut as she came back up, placing her rifle to its head and firing a round straight threw it. She turned around, only to see Garrus yelling at her to move.

The body exploded, rocketing Linda a few meters to the right, as her shields dropped down to twenty-five percentage remaining. She tasted blood in her mouth, and cursed her luck. Wasn't always good luck that came to the Spartans, or maybe the rules were different in this Universe.

Garrus was over her, kicking a husk away, and extending a hand. The scar on his face was more visible, and his eyes were looking into her faceplate with a stance that said '_Move it now!'_

"Abominations as we call them. Nasty piece of work. Up on your feet," he revealed, pulling the heavy Spartan upwards. He raised his rifle, continuing his shots against the wave of husks and abominations. Linda wanted to say thank you, but she held back. She could thank him later.

The Chief worked like a proper soldier, shooting accurate bursts from his assault rifle, dodging, never moving into a defensible location, as that would be pretty pointless against an enemy who is basically throwing their men at you. He hit one so hard its head flew off, allowing him a moment to reload his rifle. He looked up again…just to see the room was clear.

"All clear Commander," said the Turian, putting away his sniper.

"You OK Spartan?" The Commander gestured to Linda. "That abomination seemed possessed."

"It's fine. Took down my shields a bit and I think I bit my tongue, but apart from that, I'm alright."

"Then let's keep moving."

They inspected the altar, which just seemed like a couple of the scientists had taken their worship of the Reapers a little too far, and kept moving, exiting into a large open area on the side of the Reaper. Linda spotted movement among the higher areas of the structure.

"Sniper!" She yelled, diving away, but two flashes of gunfire were seen, along with the usual 'puff' of what seemed to be a Viper class Sniper Rifle. At the far end of the platform, a figure stood up. It was covered in black armour, a hole in its chest. It had an elongated neck, ending in a brief semicircle, with a lightbulb in the middle.

"Shepard-Commander," it called out.

"It's…it's a Geth!" Tali gasped.

"Geth?"

"AIs, I'll explain later."

The Geth turned around and walked away, leaving the Commander and his team to start moving forward yet again. Shepard glanced back at them.

"How the hell did it know my name?"

"It shouldn't have been able to! A single Geth has no more intelligence than a Varren!"

"Well that one talked. I'm dying to see why," Garrus commented dryly.

But, another day, another group of husks and abominations. They were relatively simple to put down, the team alternating their fire between the enemies approaching them. This continued for another assault by the misshapen people, before they came across something else entirely.

Looked like a flood carrier to the Chief.

"SCION!" Shepard shouted, leaping out of the way of a blue forcefield heading towards the Chief. The Chief didn't seem to realise what it was, and watched as it enveloped him. His shields dropped quickly, the pain evident through the armour. The beast walked up to him, the face on its shoulder screaming.

Too close for comfort actually. The Chief reached up, grabbing the thing and pulling himself up with it. At its height, he lifted it and threw it into the ground, watching as it hit the ground with a hiss, and struggled to stand back up. John raised his foot, slamming it through the chest area of the Scion.

He breathed heavily, standing still for a couple of moments as dust flew lightly past his feet. Tali walked up to him, placing an arm on his shoulder.

"Are you OK?" She asked cautiously. Even Linda was staring. The Chief had just completely destroyed the monster that killed entire squads of careless marines.

_She would have told me what it was._

"I'm fine. We should get moving."

* * *

After a few more encounters with husk, abominations and around four Scions, they reached a large door. No other words to describe it really, it was just a big freaking door. It opened slowly, and there on the table…

"Reaper IFF found," Shepard reported. He scooped it up in one of his hands, placing the device carefully into a compartment on his armour. Another door lay open, and Shepard approached it slowly.

"Shepard…" Tali warned.

"I want to know why that Geth was here. It could be important for all we know."

The door slid open, revealing a large open room with a suspended sphere in mid-air. Energy crackled from it, and at the console near it was…the Geth.

A couple of husks walked up behind it. It noticed too late, swerving around to see a fist slamming into the side of its head. Shepard's team finished them off and then looked up to see what they were dealing with. The console read that this was…the heart of a Reaper?

"We need to destroy it," Garrus said quickly. "That is the thing that caused those scientists to go crazy. It could affect others, or even us if we don't stop it now."

"Agreed. Tali, get it to open up-."

But it already did. The team opened fire at it quickly, the energy of the sphere crackling under the intense firepower of all five of them. A final round from Linda's sniper cracked it, shutting down the heart. The structure shook as it died.

Shepard ran over to the Geth, looking it over.

"We should take it Shepard. The thing might have valuable information on it, and besides, it didn't shoot at us."

"It's a Geth, Garrus. It could kill us in our sleep."

"Sir, if I may."

Shepard was surprised to see John speak. Out of the four Spartans, he was the quietest. "Speak John."

"This 'Geth' unit as Tali said shouldn't have much of an intelligence, but it does. It didn't fire on you, nor did it attempt to stop us. In fact, I'd say the Reaper heart opened up because of it. If that's the case sir, I think this unit may be useful in the upcoming mission."

Shepard nodded slowly. It made sense, and it wouldn't hurt to have a look. He nodded sharply one more time. "Alright, grab it. We need to move."

Garrus and Tali grabbed the Geth, Tali occasionally muttering 'Stupid bosh'tet' as they dragged it along, The Spartans and Shepard aiming and firing at any Husks or Abominations that got too close to the Geth. The Normandy appeared not too far off, circling around and opening its side door. Tali and Garrus chucked the Geth, its limp body floating through space into the doors of the Normandy. Tali and Garrus jumped next, landing safely inside the hallway. Shepard jumped after, turning to see the Spartans take down a Scion.

"John, Linda, move it!"

Linda jumped first, leaving John finishing off a Husk. He spun around and ran, jumping and floating slowly towards the interior of the ship, landing with a thud against the far wall. The Normandy's doors closed, leaving the team feeling a little tired and strung out from the withdrawal of adrenaline.

Shepard smiled slightly, taking off his helmet. He looked over at the Spartans.

"Well then…you sure as hell passed your evaluation. Welcome to the Normandy."


	4. Chapter 4: Friendly Interactions

(Well then, this was a fun chapter to write! Yet again, thanks for all the feedback, and if you have a complaint or anything you want to talk about the story, I reply to any review that asks or notices something about the story. Thanks for reading guys.)

Chapter 4: Friendly Interaction

The Spartans were never people to talk outside their own group. Their family. Closer than most, the Spartans regarded others as people they couldn't trust completely. They would respect them, but you would have to be something special to be accepted by the Spartans.

And now, the Spartans had to someone accept an entire group of people. Garrus had already earned Linda's respect, telling her of why the abomination had been able to knock her over so easily.

"They also explode," he had stated. "Always. You kill it and it blows up for added measure. That was a 'possessed' Abomination, possessed a term Mordin made for whenever Harbinger hasn't made our days tough enough. Anyway, seems the only advantage possessed Abominations get, is that they explode with about four times the usual yield by my estimates. I'm surprised your shields held, would have killed any one of us."

Fred was the most open to the idea of talking to the crew, already on his way up the elevator to speak with Garrus. Kelly only seemed to get along with Samara for some reason, even though they were pretty different. Nobody knew what they talked about…except for EDI anyway.

Linda talked to Grunt and Tali sometimes, but stuck with Garrus whenever she could. Apparently they had already set up a competition for who was the best sniper. They'd try it out on the citadel apparently. Linda sat snoring, a bit hurt from the last mission. Her armour had held, but she bit her tongue in a nasty way, and smacked her jaw against the helmet. A sleep was recommended by Mordin, after him confusing her about the Collectors' anatomy for about twenty minutes.

The Master Chief however only seemed to speak to Shepard. He stayed down in the armoury usually, fixing up any damages to the Spartans' armours and looking over their remaining ammunition. About sixty clips of ammunition for the MA5Bs left. They'd need to find more ammo for them. Shepard looked the weapons over, admiring the design.

"So, they originally scrapped these. Don't see why."

"Replaced them with stronger weapons. All of the MA5s are pretty strong, but there are different modifications made to each one. The 5Cs and the 5Ds are stronger the 5Bs, but less ammo. We fixed that problem after the war ended, stronger ammunition and more ammo. Used the MA5B because of the firing rate."

"I see…I don't think we'll be able to duplicate the ammunition like you said. I can get Mordin working on it though, see what we can do. These weapons work well against armours and shields…but they're almost useless against Barriers. Ping off the damn things. I'd recommend taking a sidearm, better idea if you come up across someone with barriers."

The two of them traded information back and forth, generally speaking about the current status and the Chief asking several questions about the Reapers. For every question the Chief asked, Shepard asked one himself. About the Covenant, about the Spartans. About the UNSC in particular interest. The banter went on back and forth, with a couple of jokes in-between. Shepard looked at the viewing port of engineering again, before turning to ask another question. The Chief interrupted him.

"You keep looking up at engineering. Like you're expecting to see something. You're not concentrating."

"Everyone has secrets Chief. Mine are just…a little more personal. After you hang out with a bunch of people for two dangerous attempts to save the galaxy, well…you know some better than others."

"Garrus and Tali? You mentioned they're the only combat crew that helped you on your first mission."

The banter had extended into everything Shepard knew about the Reapers, and he was surprised the Chief could catch on so fast. For the least talkative of the Spartans, he could read people fairly quickly.

"Have you ever been in love John?" Shepard inquired. A long pause followed.

"No. A marine tried to explain it to me once. Said it was why he fought the Covenant. I asked him how a feeling could do it for him, wasn't it the big picture? He replied, 'Master Chief, with all due respect sir, I'd let the Covenant shoot my head if I didn't think my wife would see me again.' The man received a call the next day, saying his wife had died. When the order for retreat came, he refused to leave, taking down two Covenant squads with a turret before finally being executed. We all heard his last words on the comm link. 'Covenant bastards. I hope you have family somewhere, because when we win this war, we're going to blow the shit out of them'. Then the comm shut off. I only realised that he didn't care if we lost the war at that time, he just wanted revenge."

Shepard processed that. "Did you? The UNSC I mean?"

"Yes. Sanghelios, the elite homeworld. The UNSC Infinity was deployed to help some of our Sangheili allies…we bombarded quite a few rebels."

"Well…back to my original point," Shepard said, eager to change the subject. "Tali and I…I think we may have a shot."

The Chief paused, stopping his work on an Avenger rifle. "Why are you telling me this?" He asked, his face showing confusion. The armour of the Spartans hung to his left, having been taken off with the help of Mordin.

"Because John, you know better than I do. You've been in a hell of a lot more fights and you're probably going to have some idea about relationships between soldiers. Is it dangerous?"

"Of course it is…but I've never seen a soldier fight better than when he's in love. When that love is broken, he becomes suicidal. That man will charge a tank and won't care if he comes out alive or not. That's why it's dangerous."

"Alright…thanks John. Let's get back to these rifles, shall we?"

* * *

"My most dangerous moment? Alright…" Fred started.

Chatting with Garrus had been fun. He might not have been the most soldier like Turian of all time, but the man was interesting, and willing to listen.

"It would had have to been at…the fall of Reach." Saying that stung, but he enjoyed telling the story to marines. "So, we're being inserted into a hot zone, need to protect a bunch of generators that connect to our orbital defence cannons. Without those cannons, it wouldn't have mattered how many men we had. So our ship is flying through the atmosphere, getting shot at. We start to go down. I had the bright idea of concentrating all of our shields to our feet, and we jumped. Out of the ship. We all hit the ground painfully, but the shields held. If we had been a bit unluckier than that exact moment…." Fred didn't need to finish.

"Damn that sounds…interesting. So tell me…the biggest ship in Citadel space is the Destiny Ascension, two kilometres long. What was your biggest ship?"

"The biggest combat-designed ship was the UNSC Infinity, at five kilometres long," Fred replied smugly.

"Damn…would have loved calibrating the weapons on that ship."

"What?"

"Inside joke, sorry. You were saying?"

* * *

"Being a Justicar seems eerily familiar to being a Spartan in ways. Couple of differences, but the base principles are still there," Kelly stated, sitting on the sofa, beside Samara. Samara meditated quietly on the floor, a ball of blue…energy in her hands. Kelly didn't know what to call it.

"I can see why. At both of our principles, we are sworn to do what is necessary to keep the innocent safe."

"Basically. Although we don't have a 'code' as you call it. And if someone stole a chocolate bar, we might let him live."

"Was that a joke?"

"Are jokes forbidden as well?"

"No…I was just curious. It has been a while since I have…'joked'."

"Interesting."

"Not really."

"But in all seriousness…why did you become a Justicar? You used to be a carefree mercenary from what you told me. Not how I'd picture my life, but you make it sound fun. Why give it up?"

"When you were asked to become a Spartan, you had the choice to give up, didn't you? You could have made them drop you out by simply giving up. Why didn't you?"

"I…I felt better where I was. A purpose. A reason to fight."

"That's why the mercenaries were well behind me as soon as I was able. What purpose was there in killing men protecting their children?"

* * *

The Commander and the Chief both stood quietly in front of Tali, who reported what she had heard. Shepard ran a hand down his face. It wasn't good.

"Are you sure Tali? Why would they charge you with Treason?"

"I don't know! I never did anything to endanger the fleet. Any contact I've had recently with the fleet was with my father only, and that was sending him salvage. I don't understand it."

The Chief and Shepard exchanged a glance, turning their attention back to Tali after a second.

"Did they say why?"

"No but…I'm scared Shepard. They could exile me. I'm not prepared for this."

"Who will be charging you?"

"The admiralty board, made up of Admiral Xen, Admiral Gerrel, Admiral Koris, Admiral Raan and my father. My father and Raan probably won't take place in the hearing…too close to me to be prepared to judge fairly."

"Did they arrange a meeting zone?"

"Yes, the Migrant fleet can be reached very easily. Only a single relay jump."

"Alright then. We'll accompany you there."

"Shepard, are you sure-."

"With all due respect ma'am," the Chief interrupted. "I'm pretty sure you won't change his mind."

Tali nodded. "Alright then. Fair enough."


	5. Chapter 5: Loyalty Over Treason

**(Bloody hell! The amount of time this chapter took to write! I will admit, it was about an hour of writing when I reached the end, so if it seems rushed, sorry about that. Longest chapter and 10,000 words milestone anyone?**

**Now, for this a few things were changed, some different dialogue where I could put it, added extras with the Chief, as best as I could.)**

Chapter Five: Loyalty Over Treason

"This is Tali'Zorah Vas Neema Nay Rayya, requesting permission to dock with the Reyya."

The ship was massive, no matter by what standards. It looked like a large bulbous orb with four of the smaller ships attached to it, and a fifth at the back. Tali had explained it was a livestock ship of some sort, producing food for the Flotilla. To the Chief, it was the biggest fleet he has ever witnessed.

"We have you flagged as Cerberus. Please verify."

Tali cleared her throat, speaking clearly. "After time adrift among open stars, along tides of light and through shoals of dust, I will return to where I began."

"Permission granted. Welcome home, Tali'Zorah."

"We would like a security and quarantine team to meet us. Our ship is not clean."

"Acknowledged."

It was eerie for the Chief to watch as the Normandy approached the Rayya, it reminded him of High Charity. It had the same impression of a Jellyfish. He wondered if anyone else thought that. Did the Quarians intend to make their ship look like tentacle monsters?

_Now is not the time,_ he thought.

The Normandy docked flawlessly with the Rayya, and when entering through the airlock, Shepard, Tali and the Chief were sprayed down. Obviously to keep the ship clean. They entered after, the doors opening to a security team.

The man in question leading the security team, was Captain Kar'Danna of the Rayya. He stared at the Master Chief, disdain on his face. The Chief was taller than the Quarians by a good one or two feet, so their reactions were ones of panic and worry.

"Tali'Zorah, what is this thing? It looks like a damned Geth Juggernaut, and I will not-."

"That _thing_ has a name," the Chief responded, ice cold.

The Captain recoiled backwards, as did the other Quarians. One of them leaned forward however, and in body language, seemed to frown. The Chief was perplexed.

"A human, eh? Captain Danna you damn bosh'tet lower your mens' weapons. This man is just inside an advanced exo-skeleton suit," the Quarian stated. This particular Qurian's armour was painted a dark brown, with a small pistol at his side. He spoke with a rusted voice and wisdom. The Chief nodded respectfully.

"Yes. Right away," the Captain replied. "I apologise Commander Shepard. Things have been tense since the accusations made against Tali'Zorah. I cannot say much, but the Admirals wish to meet her right away."

"Thank you Kar. We'll get going now."

"Keelah Se'lai Tali…oh, and remember, you still have friends on this ship. Use them."

* * *

After an awkward reunion with Tali's aunty Raan, which the Chief wished never to be repeated, they approached the pedestals where they were to present Tali's case. Raan took her place behind the three Admirals who were supposed to be judging them.

There was Admiral Gerrel, who was in charge of the Heavy Fleet. Although a violent man, he was apparently a brilliant tactician, and a man of worthy note in most Quarian engagements. A friend of Tali's father, she hoped to have his support in the trial.

Next was Admiral Koris. He wasn't very friendly, but to most it was understandable. The man was in charge of the civilian fleet, and was tasked with the duty and responsibility of all the non-combatants of the Quarian Flotilla. He favoured peace over war, leading to disagreements with Gerrel.

Last was Admiral Xen, an eccentric but brilliant Quarian scientist, who was apparently responsible for many Quarian breakthroughs in their military. In charge of only a couple of research ships, she was tasked with finding any way to gain an advantage over the Geth, at all costs.

Tali stood nervously in front of them, rubbing her hands together. The Admirals looked intently at her. Admiral Raan brought the trial to an opening.

"This Conclave is brought to order. Blessed are the ancestors who kept us alive, sustained us and enabled us to reach this season. Keelah Se'lai."

A chorus of 'Keelah Se'lai' was heard. Admiral Raan continued. "The accused, Tali'Zorah Vas Normandy, has come with her captain to defend herself against the charge of treason."

The admirals wasted no more time getting ready for the trial.

"Security! Does Tali'Zorah attempt to threaten us by bringing this giant along?"

"The Captain let the _human_ on-board Koris, do you think of second guessing the Rayya's Captain?"

"…objection withdrawed."

"Now, Shepard Vas Normandy, your crewmember stands accused of treason. Will you speak for her?"

"I do. Tali'Zorah remains a proud member of the Migrant Fleet, and I regret I am here to fill in the position of Captain, when her proper one should be present here today."

There was murmuring among the crowd as Admiral Koris spoke up.

"No-one has been forbidden! It is a simple-"

"Lie to them if you want Koris, but don't expect to lie to me and be silent about it. The human is right!"

"Admirals, please!" Raan called out, settling the bickering Admirals. "Shepard's willingness to support Tali'Zorah in this hearing is appreciated…Tali, you are accused of bringing active Geth into the Migrant Fleet. What say you?"

"How could Tali have sent Geth to the fleet while serving on the Normandy with me?" Shepard protested.

_Interesting how Quarian politics work. Give five people a ton of power…or is it that the five people are a last resort?_ The Chief though quietly. He continued to observe the trial, feeling out of place.

"To clarify, Tali isn't charged with bringing back whole units so to speak, she is charged of sending back salvage that could reactivate," Admiral Xen stated, clearing things up.

"But I would never bring back active Geth to the fleet! Everything I sent was disabled and harmless," she protested, looking nervous as Admiral Koris stepped forward.

"Then explain how Geth seized the lab where your father was working!" He shouted, bringing a collection of surprise among the other Quarians gathered at the trial. Tali stepped forward towards the railing, her voice quivering.

"What are you talking about? What happened?" She demanded. Her hands were balled into fists, shaking violently.

"The Geth…the Geth seem to have killed everyone on the Alarei was far as tell. Including your father Tali," Koris replied gently, realising his mistake.

"What? Oh Keelah…" she breathed, one hand on her head.

"Admirals, as much as the trial should continue, if there is a Geth threat, we need to eliminate it before it can pose too much of a threat," the Master Chief pointed out, drawing attention to himself.

"Agreed Chief. The Normandy is ready to assist if needed," Shepard added.

"Thank you Commander and…'Chief'. Quarian strike teams had been sent in, but with no luck," Admiral Raan reported, sadness masking her voice.

"We need to take back the Alarei!" Tali said to Shepard and the Chief, her tone distraught.

"The safest course would simply be to destroy the ship, but if you are looking for an honourable death instead of exile…" Admiral Koris mused.

"With all due respect Admiral, the only men dead are yours. Don't make it so we follow," the Chief said, making a couple of Quarians give him dirty looks. Some nodded to his statement.

"And my father as well you damn bosh'tet!" Tali yelled.

"This sounds extremely dangerous, even with this new type of armour your friend possesses Commander…" Raan noted.

"The good of the fleet must come first…and Tali needs to find her father."

"Agreed," Gerrel commented. "And if you die on this worthy mission Tali…your name will be cleared of these charges," he added.

"We'll discuss that later."

"Then it is decided," Raan concluded. "You will attempt to retake the Alarei. A shuttle will be waiting to depart you to the ship in the secondary hanger bay. Be safe Tali'Zorah, we will resume this hearing upon your return, or if reports are definite you have been killed in action."

The Quarians turned and left, leaving Shepard to speak to Tali before they left.

"Thank you for helping to take back the Alarei Shepard. You too John. Thank you for the support during the trial," she said, gesturing to the Spartan. "The admirals sound sure my father is dead but…I hope not. I intend to find out however."

"You OK? They threw a lot of fire at you, even before telling you about your father…"

"You're never really prepared to be charged with treason Shepard. No matter how you prepare."

_Like Doctor Halsey_, the Chief thought sadly. She made mistakes, but he wasn't so sure about her sentence. It had been relatively simple enough to find out what they had done to her, but he knew it was best not to try and see her. Old wounds.

"I…hope my father is still alive. They don't know for certain…but I have to find out. I have to Shepard. He could still be alive."

"Is there anyone here you want to speak to? Friends, the admirals?" Shepard asked.

"There'll be time for talking after the mission. For now, I think it's best we just go."

"What about Raan?"

"If I die on this mission Shepard…I don't want to talk to her."

"You're going to be fine Tali, alright? We got the Chief with us. Hide behind him," Shepard joked.

"Just because you're too busy running away," the Chief retorted.

"Let's just get moving, shall we?"

* * *

The ride to the Alarei was fairly smooth, and when they arrived, seemed distant and calm. The ship drifted about in space, not really doing anything. It was a bit eerie to see the usually ecstatic ships so still and lifeless.

They stepped onto the ship, the Chief raising his rifle and taking point. Tali was behind him, with Shepard at the back. They met the first group of Geth through the first door. A small group of about twenty or so Geth, and two hunters, they were beat easily enough, with the Chief examining their weapons in the quiet that followed. Tali approached a terminal, activating the audio log. A Quarian scientist appeared on the screen.

_"Something's slowing down the systems. We're taking down the firewalls to rebalance load 'Zorah ordered us to bypass standard safeties. Following security protocols would take too long."_

It ended, but no-one said anything about it. Simple bypassing. Nothing amazingly suspicious about that. They moved on.

The next hallway contained a side-room, which upon entry, showed something that resembled a Geth recon drone. Tali approached it with John and Shepard.

"This is one of the storage units I sent to Father," she mused, looking the device over. "Looks like parts from a disabled repair drone, plus a reflex algorithm that I didn't recognise. I got this on Haelstrom."

"Anything specific about sending this part back?"

"All the parts I sent had to be working, but they could not be activated. Something that could be integrated into other technology," she stated, continuing her examination of the drone. "Anything that could show us how the Geth worked."

"I wonder if he learned anything useful," John thought aloud.

"Guess we'll find out eventually."

"Does that recon drone give you an idea of what happened here?"

"No, everything I sent couldn't be activated Shepard, in no way. I made sure nothing could pose a potential threat. What's worse, that I sent something dangerous…or did Father actually do all of this?"

* * *

They approached another terminal, Tali activating it yet again. This one showed a female and a male Quarian scientist, both looking at a console.

_"Who's running this system diagnostic? I didn't authorise…oh. Keelah, how many Geth are networked?"_

_"All of them! Rael'Zorah-."_

_"Shut it down! Shut everything down! They're in the systems!"_

They left the console silently, starting to get a picture of what had happened. At least John thought he did. In the next room, there was more Geth. They were easy to take down, coming from the narrow staircase. It wasn't hard to beat them.

Another terminal was near the stairs, and this time, Shepard approached it. He pressed the play button, John and Tali behind him. The screen showed a panicking Quarian female scientist.

_"We locked down navigation. Weapons are offline. Our mistake won't endanger the fleet. They're burning through the door. I don't have much time. I'm sorry. I'm so , if you get this, be strong for daddy. Mommy loves you very much!"_

At the end, the door could be seen exploding as the screen turned to static, the female being shot. Tali put a face to her mask and Shepard slowly shook his head.

"Dear God…"

"We should keep moving," the Chief said, walking up the stairs.

"Don't you even care?" Tali accused, the stress of the day getting to her. "That woman just lost her life!" She yelled.

The Master Chief paused at the top of the stairs, looking ahead. He turned back around to Tali, who seemed to be acknowledging what she had just said.

"I…I didn't mean to…"

"I had to abandon billions of lives burning under plasma beams raining from space. What happened here is a minority to the destruction I have seen. I'm a soldier, but don't think I'm a machine," he said, remembering what Cortana had said to him before she died. "I regret that these people die, but the sooner we fix this, the sooner we can mourn if that's what you wish." With that, he continued walking.

Tali bowed her head down and walked ahead, looking ashamed. Shepard felt a surge of anger. Who was John to judge her? She had just lost her father.

When they entered into the next room, the Geth showed up again. This fight was harder, the Geth throwing camouflaged Geth Hunters at the team. Shepard and Tali took cover as the Chief continuously opened fire on the Geth. His shields started dropping fairly quickly, as Geth Hunters kept firing their shotguns at him directly. He rolled into cover ad they reached fifty percentage.

Tali needed to move with the Geth hunter moving his way to fire at her exposed right side. She attempted to run across the room but was hit in the side by a rocket. Her shields dropped to almost zero and she fell over from the pain.

She struggled to get back up as the Geth rocket trooper took aim again, and pulled the trigger. She froze, watching as it sped towards her. She looked at Shepard desperately, but never felt the missile. She unclenched her muscles, seeing the smoking armour of the Master Chief slowly standing up, his armour's shields sparking as they began to recharge. Tali slowly realised he had just jumped in front of the missile with his shields not fully recharged. She stared in awe as he ran over, grabbed the Rocket trooper and threw him at the hunter, both of them colliding in a shower of sparks. He scanned the room, noting it was clear. He walked over to Tali, extending his hand to pull her up.

"Apologies for the outburst ma'am. It's been a hard week on me as well," he explained.

Tali nodded at the impassive visor of the Chief, letting him pull her up. She was at a loss for words, and simply walked on. Shepard approached the Master Chief before he advanced, looking him in the eyes…sort of.

"Why would you risk your life like that for her?" He demanded.

"It wasn't for her sake Commander, it was for yours."

"What the hell does that mean?"

The Chief took off his helmet, and stared the Commander in the eyes for a solid ten seconds. Only now did Shepard realise how old they looked. "When you asked me if I had ever been in love Commander, I lied. I'm going to make sure this Universe has at least one soldier to look up to if I don't make it. And that's going to be you. Understand?"

The Commander nodded slowly, as the Chief walked on. He reflected on the man's words for a couple of seconds…then realised they were a good bit ahead. Drawing his weapon, he began to follow them.

* * *

Tali approached a console, not so far away from the room they were just in. She looked at it carefully, a bit curious to what might be inside it.

"This console might have something. Most of the data is corrupted, but a few bits are left," she reported, noticing the slight quaver in her voice. Shepard placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"They were performing tests on Geth systems, trying to look for a way to overcome Geth resistance to our programming."

After asking a few questions about the Geth they had sent, and an argument about the war, they moved on, clearly annoyed at how this whole situation was turning out for the worst.

Shepard dwelled on her words, the way she passionately defended the Quarians' right to attack and retake their homeworld. _A single kiss could put me in hospital!_ She had yelled. How could he even think of being with her if it was that risky?

Another skirmish with the Geth. They hand the high ground and the Chief refused to let any of them up the stairs, so it was relatively simple. Shepard was starting to enjoy having the Spartans around. They were so much more durable and quick, and while they may have lacked the necessary room for any added technology, their own technology was extremely efficient. The MJLONIR armour seemed like a dream to Shepard.

That was when they stumbled across the dead body of Rael'Zorah.

"Father!" Tali cried, running to his body. She held it close to her, looking him over. "No, no, no! You always had a plan! Masked life signs or an onboard medical stasis program…no…they're wrong! You wouldn't just die like this. You wouldn't-."

"Hey…hey come here," Shepard said soothingly, bringing her in for a hug. The Chief stood watch a little bit further on, making sure Tali could have a small moment of peace.

"Damn it! Damn it…I'm sorry…" she cried, her voice breaking.

"You have nothing to be sorry about. Just relax," Shepard replied as calmly as he could.

"Maybe…maybe he left a message…he would have known I'd come…" she realised, looking over his body.

A small hologram of Rael appeared, looking worried. He spoke in a nervous tone. "_Tali, if you are listening to this, then I am dead. The Geth have gone active, I don't have much time. Their main hub will be on the bridge. You'll need to destroy it to stop their VI processes from forming new neural links. Make sure Han'Gerrel and Daro'Xen see the data, they must-."_

The message ended, Tali sniffing. "Thanks dad," she mustered.

* * *

Tali and Shepard were having a moment, but the thought of being able to stop the Geth right here and now motivated the Chief to run to bridge as fast as he could. When he got there, he saw two Geth hunters and a larger Geth standing in front of the console. He smashed through the glass, opening fire on the two Geth Hunters. With continuous fire, they fell quickly. The larger one turned around. The Chief raised his weapon to fire, but flew backwards instead.

The Geth had a large weapon, firing concentrated bursts of energy. It had knocked his shields down to fifty percent. He looked up at the thing reloading, only to see its head blow off. Tali stood at the doorway, aiming her shotgun where the Geth was originally. Apparently, Chief had been so close the Geth that he was close enough to knock off the Geth's shields from the explosion.

"Thanks," he muttered.

"We're even now."

"I could have taken it."

"I'm sure."

As they approached the console on the bridge, Tali looked at Shepard.

"These consoles have some recordings on them. It'll show us what he did."

"Play the tapes," he asked slowly.

* * *

They arrived back on the Rayya not so long after reviewing the tapes. It had left Tali in a bad mood, giving Shepard a chance to comfort her, and giving the Chief a chance to inspect his armour.

When they arrived in the room, the court was already in session. Shepard and Tali strode up to the podium, looking at the Admirals.

"Sorry we're late," Tali growled.

"Tali'Zorah Vas Normandy saved the Alarei. I hope this proves her loyalty to the Quarian people."

"Her loyalty was never in question Commander, only her judgement," Koris retorted.

"Did you find anything on the Alarei to show what happened their? The Admiralty board needs evidence Tali'Zorah," Daro'Xen ordered.

As Shepard approached the podium, he didn't know what he would say. Tali didn't want him to talk about her father, but he couldn't bear to see her get exiled. He cleared his throat, looking nervous.

Until John spoke up.

"Admirals, what do you mean by her judgement?" He asked.

The admirals stared blankly at him, looking a bit confused.

"This woman has helped save my life two times this past week already."

"What does this prove?" Koris snapped.

"That's two more times than any other Quarian I've met so far. This woman helped save not you fleet, but the entire galaxy, did she not? You're questioning her on things that are beyond her current field of view, beyond what she's even a part of. So far, it doesn't even seem like Tali's the focus. It's like you care more about what to do with the Geth than you do her!" He accused.

"How dare you-."

"The giant's right!" Kal'Reegar stated, emerging from the crowd. "Tali's done more for this goddamn fleet than the rest of your bosh'tets have, and she's half the age!"

"I agree!" A Quarian Tali knew as Veetor said, looking nervous in the crowd. "Tali saved my lives, and possibly the lives of everyone here! If you exile her…you might as well exile me too!"

"And me!" Kal'Reegar yelled.

"And me!"

"And me too!"

"Tali's a damn war hero!"

The chorus of appreciation for Tali emerged from the crowd, as John shrunk quietly behind them again. The admirals raised their hands for quiet, looking at Tali and Shepard squarely. Shepard looked a bit smug. Nobody messes with his crew.

"In light of Tali's service to the galaxy and to the Flotilla, the admiralty board has decided to clear all charges put against her," Admiral Raan called out.

Tali stood stunned, amazed by the fact that everyone had stuck up for her so quickly, and with such courage. She looked back at john with a look that simply said 'thank you'.

John nodded, smiling at the scene.

* * *

The room had quieted down fairly quickly, with Tali and Shepard moving around talking to everyone present. Kal'Reegar and Veetor gave their goodbyes, as well as a warning that Shepard better keep Tali safe. He promised he would.

On the way out, he turned to Tali. "Are you alright?"

"I don't think I _can_ be alright Shepard…but thank you. This will take some time to get over. And John…"

John looked up at her, his helmet under his arm.

"Looks like I owe you one again," and with that, walked to the Normandy.

"Commander?" John asked."

"Yeah?"

"I think you have a good chance."

Shepard watched Tali go. "Maybe John…just maybe."


	6. Chapter 6: Shore leave, drinks, mistakes

**(Warning: This Chapter contains some of the most away-from-character experiences yet. Do not read if you are a die-hard fanboy…nah, just kidding. The Spartans are on shore leave, so they act a bit…crazy, trying to make up for thirty years of countless war. R&R for the Chief's team, right? So, forgive me for making them seem more…eccentric at points. You also need to think outside the box, because while I am trying to make the Spartans seem more…human-like in this story, you're going to see how far that actually goes. If you don't like it, just say it in a review, and I'll talk about it.)**

Chapter Six: Drinks, shore leave and secrets.

The Citadel was massive. Not the biggest structure the Chief had ever seen, he guessed that would have to be…the Unyielding Hierophant? It was massive. Then he realised Requiem was pretty big, and artificially created. It topped the charts pretty easily by that standard.

Still, the Citadel was big, and the fact they had used it so well for their community, a beacon of hope and a place for all the species to negotiate, except the non-council ones. It was nice, but made the Chief sad to see such peace among the species. Why did the Covenant not do this with the humans? What made them a target for death?

It didn't do to dwell on things like that. Shepard had congratulated his team on their recent efforts, and told them to bugger off and get hammered. The Chief wondered if he _could_ get hammered. Be interesting to see how much drinks it took.

The docks were pretty bland enough, just a simple check-point with a Turian arguing with a clerk at the desk. Something about a ceremonial dagger, or blade? Didn't matter, so he walked on. He was late to the party as per usual, finishing up on some armour check-ups before Shepard had kicked him out. He stood awkwardly in the crowd, before he heard a voice call his name.

"John! Hey John, it's me Jack!"

Ah yes, Jack. The woman with a shaved head who john did not want to fight without his armour on. She approached him with a half-hearted smile, obviously feeling as out of place as he was, and gestured for him to follow her. She filled him in on the way.

"Basically, Kelly's off dancing in some club. Apparently she learned from vids how to dance, although looks different from what we do. Crazy, right? Linda and Garrus went off somewhere, apparently something about a competition? I hope Linda'll kick his ass, then he won't be so cocky."

"I think you're pretty cocky too Jack," the Chief commented.

"Says the man who charged a Geth Prime."

"Touché."

"I'm pretty sure Fred went off with Tali to do some sightseeing, something about the Presidium and a chance to fish in it. Fred was pretty heartbroken when he was told that you couldn't. Poor bastard. So, I'm off to get slammed, drunk and in the other way if I feel good, you in?"

"I'll take a drink, hold back on the men if you can."

"No promises."

* * *

Linda fired her sniper into the flying bottle, and Garrus whistled in appreciation. That was the fifth bottle, she could practically feel the nervous sweat running down her back. She wanted to win this. She _needed _to win this. The loser bought drinks damn it!

It was Garrus' turn, and he picked up and reloaded his sniper.

"You're a good shot Linda, almost amazing."

"Let me guess what qualifies as amazing? Turians?"

"_Handsome_ Turians actually."

"Maybe if you lost the scars."

She threw the bottle, which flew through the air before popping in a puff of smoke. She huffed, Garrus _was _a good shot. But she was eager to beat the cocky bastard.

"The women love the scars," he chided, setting down his rifle. They were on top of a large building, somewhere in Zakera Ward, and probably causing a couple of car crashes whenever they shot a bullet.

"Name one example."

"Well _you_ for one. I can tell you can't resist."

"Yeah, I'm completely entranced," she retorted. She wasn't good at small talk. It seemed easier with another lone wolf. Someone who could take help but didn't need it. Garrus was like that. It made him easier to talk to than the other crew members. Garrus threw the bottle, and it puffed in mid-air. He shook his head.

"No-one has ever made me sweat Spartan," he said picking up his rifle. "Won't be a woman who thinks she could beat my sniping." He shouldered the rifle, and Linda got a cheeky grin as she threw it.

"No-one else knew where to _bite Vakarian."_

With that slightly disturbing comment, he swivelled around, missing the shot completely. The bullet veered away, with Garrus realising his mistake. Linda threw her arms in the air.

"You cheated!"

"Nah Vakarian. You just know _you can't resist!"_ She teased, laughing as she quoted his own words. "Loser buys drinks!" She realised that this was enjoyable. She hadn't laughed yet since the Slipspace portal. It was a surprise to her, and she realised Garrus might be a good friend to have.

"Was that the deal?" He asked innocently.

"Shut up! I want one of those ryncols you talked about!"

* * *

"No fishing? Really? _Come on!"_ Fred groaned. The water was crystal clear, and so beautiful. It reflected the Citadel from top to bottom, almost like a mirror, with the slightest ripples echoing across the long canal. The water stretched from one end of the Presidium to the other by the look of it, and he glanced constantly back and forth. It was amazing to look at. Be even better to relax in. That would have been nice. Being thrown into this Universe and relaxing, but he was a Spartan, and he knew he wouldn't last twenty minutes without thinking someone was out to kill him.

"I'm afraid so Fred," Tali answered, placing a reassuring, yet mocking, hand on his shoulder. It was obvious she was suppressing her giggles as Fred made an obvious look of annoyance. He glanced out over the Presidium, watching as the light reflected gently off the shining water.

"This would be a nice place to live," he said absent-mindedly.

"Yeah…" she replied, drifting off.

"You can't?"

"Well…we're not really welcome. Quarians I mean. Because of the Geth…"

"I still don't get that. I mean, would you have fired if there wasn't such strict laws against AIs?"

"Probably not. We panicked. I wasn't there at the time. But I…I just hate them. The Council and the damn Geth, all of them. They bloody ruined us." She started to drift off again in her sad, angry thoughts. Fred just returned to the view. It was nice.

* * *

The Chief and Jack reached the club, a small one on Zakera ward. It was pretty spacious, with Asari dancers lining the areas. The Chief frowned. Maybe the other Spartans could find a way to fit in here, but not _him_. In their free time they watched vids of social contact, whenever they could on the fleets. He watched and received status reports. He hadn't the time to learn how to be 'social'.

He could see Kelly dancing, looking for once without a care in the world. He cracked a smile. She always worried. Ever since Sam's death. It was always a painful topic, but it stung him even more to realise he never existed in this Universe. His best friend had died for something no-one here would ever even know or care about. It was an empty feeling.

But that was when he saw Linda…hiccupping. She was sitting beside Garrus, with a large group of Turian males and Krogan males around her as she chugged an awful looking liquid. She didn't seem steady.

"I thought you guys couldn't get drunk…oh _shit!_ Is that Ryncol!?" Jack exclaimed. The Chief walked over, looking at Linda carefully as she smiled.

"Linda…? What are you doing?"

"Onto my –hiccup- seventh bottle John! I –hiccup- just beat the bar record!"

"She's a bloody natural at holding her liquor," Garrus said, watching her with intent. "That much Ryncol would usually kill a grown man, but she's taking it with stride…sort of."

Linda hiccupped again, taking another swig, finishing that particular bottle. She yelled 'Another!' and Garrus sighed sadly, as he paid for the next bottle with his ever-dwindling credits. The men around her cheered as she grabbed it and took a swig.

The Chief walked away shaking his head, a small smile on his face. He didn't remember the last time his Spartans had fun. It was nice. His friends had been in trenches, starships, open plains, even Forerunner Shield Worlds, but fun was devoid. No matter the augmentations, everyone had to let off steam, and the Spartans had thirty years of steam to let off in a day. It was nice.

"Where's the Commander?"

"With Thane or some shit. Something about family matters? Who knows? It's Thane."

The Chief shrugged and approached Kelly, who was dancing along with a group of females. She stood out pretty obviously, being six feet tall and having massive muscles but it seemed like the others didn't care. Everyone was here to get drunk and have fun. Didn't matter if you were an augmented super-soldier from another galaxy who's trying to forget thirty years of war and destruction. All that mattered was you didn't judged the person beside you.

"Didn't know you could dance Kelly," the Chief noted.

"Didn't know either! Me and Linda had to find some way to pass the time on starships, right?"

Technically, the Spartans should have been around forty to fifty years old by now. But thanks to the technology known as cryo freezing, which they spent a lot of time in, they were only around thirty years old. Maybe younger, depending on how much time an individual Spartan stayed in cryo. So, if you took away the muscles and the height, they almost looked like people coming here to forget their problems or blowing money just for the hell of it.

"C'mon John, dance!" Kelly laughed, obviously enjoying herself. John shook his head. No way. Not in any Universe would he dance. He saw Jack muttering something about 'now there's two of them' when he refused to dance. He wondered what she was talking about.

But for now, he would sit at a table with Jack, and trade stories. He had a pint, but he didn't really drink it. The other Spartans could shake off their rock-hard outsides and act a bit social, but not the Chief. If there was one Spartan who couldn't shake himself out of war…it had to be him.

* * *

"Ugh…oh god…" Linda muttered, sitting up slowly in the bed of a hotel which she didn't know. Her head throbbed. Turns out Spartans _could_ get drunk. If she ever saw Naomi again…she owed her twenty credits. Linda looked to see the time, and realised she had an hour before the Normandy left. Getting ready to try and sleep again, she realised she wasn't alone.

"Oh shit."

"Well crap," replied Garrus sitting up.

"This…this did not just happen," she muttered, placing her hands on the sides of her head. How drunk had she been? Why on this damned place did she agree to try Ryncol? It said it killed humans that should have been her first warning!

"Well uh…you were um…great, but I think I'm going to go to the Normandy now…cry down in the weapon's room," Garrus awkwardly rose, walking to his clothes. Linda still sat with her hands shaking, realising the extent of what had just happened. It was crazy! Never should have even…dammit, she wished she had ignored the damn bets of drinking ryncol. She must have had several bottles by the end of the night, what was it…twelve? Well, turns out a Spartan can get drunk…you just need Krogan liquor.

"This never happened…" she snapped, looking at Garrus. "OK? We…we act like it never happened. Agreed?"

"Agreed," he said, almost sounding slightly ashamed.

"Now give me my clothes."


	7. Chapter 7: I ain't afraid of no ghost

**(Dear god this took long! Sorry about that guys, I was away at the weekend, no wifi and no computers! Here it is, a chapter focused completely on John…mostly.)**

Chapter Seven: I ain't afraid of no ghost

The Chief hadn't even been on the Normandy for five minutes before Shepard needed to talk to him. He walked down the corridor, his feet thumping on the deck as he towered past over crew members. Shepard was waiting for him in the Conference/Communications room.

"John. Good to see you. Enjoy shore leave?"

"It was alright. Didn't do much except look at the sights and drink…at Jack's command of course."

"You don't say no to her, rule number two."

"What's rule number one?"

"Maybe another day."

The Chief already knew Shepard was putting something off, and crossed his arms. Shepard looked up, a bit tired, and pointed towards the communications system that was coming out of the floor.

"He wants to talk to you, tell me when you're done," he said, walking out of the room.

The Chief stepped onto the shiny surface, watching as the holographic interface rose around him, its advanced sensors scanning every part of his body, his clothing(thankfully) and his movements as he was presented with a holographic image of an old man. The man lay in a comfy looking armchair, wearing a suit that split down the middle with a white shirt underneath it. His eyes were a blue aligned with machine-like patterns and his hair was swept back in a rich fancy-man like fashion. He smoked a cigar before addressing John.

"If what the reports from Miranda say are true, then you and your team are probably the best alive if that is fair to say. You apparently come from another Universe, and you have defeated another foe bent on wiping out all of humanity," the man started, in a deep but vibrating voice.

"That's true," John replied, crossing his arms. "I don't see why you would need a second opinion if your right-hand officer already told you everything."

"This isn't about opinions Spartans, this is about facts, and how much you know about them. Who am I, for example? You won't find out. Call me the Illusive Man, and you better realise that the only reason we've let you stay on the Normandy is because you are a weapon. If what you say is correct, you're bred for war and you're the best damn soldier there is right now."

John nodded, but clenched his teeth. The man was disrespectful, but the Chief knew better than to talk back to command. It was something he rarely did, and if he did do it, only if it was needed. Captain Del Rio should have known better.

"So John, I'm sending you on a mission. Your team of Spartans will wait here, and you'll enter by yourself. There's a package that needs to be picked up on Illium, and while Shepard takes Miranda there, you will pick it up. I'll be sending the mission reports to your computer in the shuttle bay. Take a pistol, but leave your armour. It'll track attention in the wrong places. Don't mess this up. I'll tolerate Shepard's companions because of what they can do, but I won't tolerate someone because of Shepard's pity. Illusive Man out."

Illium was beautiful.

The words were caught in his throat as he gazed upon the polished towers of perfectly aligned metal. The Asari dynamics of building extended higher upon anything he had saw at the Citadel, sort of like everything was chucked randomly together and it ended up looking beautiful, as if the thrower had planned it the whole time. That was John's interpretation anyway.

As the Shuttle dropped him off, he stood dazed at the streets that surrounded him with people of the highest stature walking around and chatting with others. People with money to spend and time to spend with it. People who thought they were safe because of their reputation.

John moved on. Along with the sights, the people who dwelled were also amazing. A woman with deep purple eyes, a man with a tall build designed for running, two Asari sitting at a bench chatting quietly. John took it all in, lost for a moment in the beauty of the place, almost like the planets of his Universe, before the war. Almost like his homeworld he could barely even remember.

_Would my life have been like this if…?_

He scowled at himself, shaking his mind out of those thoughts. It wasn't the time for that right now. Beside if he hadn't been taken…he would have been dead. End of story. So he kept walking. Walking towards the mission and away from the memories. Better that way. Body like a soldier, mind like a soldier. Not a machine.

The Illusive Man had said he needed to pick up some sort of communications prototype, that would allow them to communicate with a person directly through an implant in their heads. It was dangerous, and a group of bandits had stolen it from them. From Cerberus. John was going to negotiate its release. No crossfire, too valuable to lose. So he walked on, taking in the sights.

Shopkeepers and business-people talked to customers around small rising pillars like they were advertisements. John suspected differently, but in all honesty, it wasn't his prime concern. The meeting point would be coming up soon, and he could feel the butt of his pistol digging into his hip. He remembered the promise he had made years ago, broken already. Never to kill another human. He broke it the day he landed, too concerned with safety for his team. Not anymore. Not again. Not unless it was absolutely needed. His mind wondered to this promise…it wasn't the same in this Universe, it wasn't as if it was a desperate fight for survival. The choices someone made here were choices that didn't have to be made. The Chief realised that his promise would eventually be broken by an asshole of a merc who got in his way. He shook his head, facing this predicament.

The meeting point was quiet, save for a mercenary in white and blue armour. He was wearing the same armour as the men John had seen on Tuchunka, and it made him uneasy. John tensed, looking at the five people surrounding him. He clenched his teeth, already expecting the answer from these mercenaries.

"I've got the money from Cerberus," the Chief called out, his voice echoing around the storage area. There were several crates, each one labelled with terms the Chief couldn't understand. It didn't matter. Or did it? His mind gazed to one of them…

"Uh-huh. Pass it over," interrupted the mercenary leader, a nasty looking pistol at his side. John slid over the crate. Everything was electronic, but the crate accessed a certain bank account set up by Cerberus with the necessary money inside it. The Mercenary looked it over, satisfied.

"Alright men, you know the drill. I'll take this back to the boss. He'll want to see this," the mercenary said, almost in glee. Sadistic glee. _Sadistic glee?_

The Chief has already spun around to meet the hand of the Turian that held a gun to his head, the Turian backpedalled, but not before the Chief kicked his chest-plate _inwards_ allowing John to roll over behind one of the crates as the other three mercenaries opened fire. Bullets pinged off the crate as John stood up and took careful aim at a nearby man, shooting him in the leg. He said he wouldn't kill another person, didn't say anything about giving them a nasty leg wound. Besides, the mercs weren't giving him too much danger. Maybe he could get out without having to kill these men.

The Chief stood up, running across the top of the crates that lined the area, kicking one down. One that was labelled fairly obviously when he had saw it; Fire extinguishers. John shot the crate several times, watching as the Carbon Dioxide Foam sprayed outwards over the mercs, who found themselves face-to-face, when it cleared slightly, with the Chief himself. The Turian felt a fist smash _through his helmet_ impacting on his mandibles. He went out cold.

Another merc fired a weapon at close range, stunned to see the Spartan actually looking like he had dodged the bullet. But that was impossible! Not even Asari Commandos moved that fast! The Chief struck out, his fist indented on the Merc's armour as his roundhouse kick impacted another into a wall. The fourth and final Merc stood up, raising his fists in a meagre attempt at defence. The Chief kicked him at a particularly strong looking box of crates, smirking as the man slumped slowly down the side of it.

The Merc Leader emerged from the other side of the room, holding a pistol, his hand shaking. The Chief hadn't noticed him, too busy dealing with the immediate threat. He reached for his pistol, but stopped once he noticed the rather tough looking weapon in the Merc's hands.

"You're not human…can't be. No-one moves that fast, a Krogan isn't that damn strong. Not strong enough to stop a Carnifex round to the skull I bet. I swear to God, if the Illusive Man thinks that he can threaten the Blue Suns I'll-."

The man was cut short by the quick insertion of John's knife, entering his right calf muscle. The man let off a strangled scream, letting off two shots before toppling over. John kicked the weapon out of the Merc's hands, and finished him off with a swift punch. The silence in the room was a quiet ode to the Spartan's uncanny ability of CQC combat. Each of the men in the room had suffered several wounds, be it from bones or internal bleeding. They would all live, and would insist that they were attacked by a 'Demon' of some sort.

The Chief stood up slowly, grabbing the briefcase and the nearby item that seemed like the Ullusive Man's transmitter. Before he picked it up, it flashed orange once, and a life-size hologram appeared, of the Illusive Man. The small projector was a floating ball.

"Good job John, I saw the whole thing on the nearby camera. Needless to say, this recording of the events taking place has been deleted. There is no highly advanced device here John, just this ball. This was just a test, a test I spent four days putting together. Fred is currently on his and Linda proved herself during the Reaper IFF mission. I'll put Kelly to the test soon enough."

"What do you mean Fred is on his?" John demanded, a slight edge of panic to his voice.

"Calm down Spartan, he went on a mission with Shepard to help Miranda. They'll pick you up soon."

"Why the secrecy?"

"How could I know you'd perform to your full potential if you weren't under stress? I needed to know and…they don't call me the Illusive Man for nothing. Get the job done John, I'm counting on your team and Shepard's team. Illusive Man out."

John stood transfixed as the hologram flickered out and cursed loudly. Who the hell was this man? How the hell did he think he had the power to send John into danger like that? It didn't matter now, but the Chief suspected that one day…it would.

* * *

The ride back was long and uneventful, and Miranda had obviously been crying. Shepard had tried to comfort her, but it was obvious she wouldn't talk it about. John had seen that look. She had lost a friend. That wasn't easy. He knew first-hand what that could feel like. He wondered what had happened to the Spartans who were officially MIA, not technically found. He racked his brain. There was Grey Team, always the wild ones, there was…that was it? So little Spartan Twos remained in his own Universe now that him and his team were gone. It was weird, feeling like you've left someone when it wasn't your own fault. He settled on these thoughts as the shuttle made its way slowly back to the Normandy, a slight shine off its left side as it curved.


	8. Chapter 8: Boarding Parties

**(If you don't like character interactions, the first two parts aren't really massive. Mostly just information about the characters, there's some shooting and stuff in the third part. Herp de derp.)**

Chapter Eight: Boarding parties.

"…and there were bloody four of them, aiming at me! I managed to take them down, not too hard, but then the leader comes back around. He's making a speech, talking to me, threatening me and everything, when I chuck my knife at him quickly. Digs into his calf, just so I can finish him off!"

The crew cheered, laughing and talking. It was pretty basic, mission completed, talk about it, joke. Miranda wasn't with them, most likely grieving over her friend that had died. John had only learned what happened after they had gotten onto the Normandy.

"You see?" Jack started. "If you had had Biotics, that would have been easy as shit. Singularity the bastards, shoot them all in the chest. Don't know why you let them live," she muttered, returning to her drink.

"They didn't need to die Jack, I'm sure John over here just realised that. You, on the other hand…" Tali said, making a crazy motion with her fingers, causing a few laughs.

"Is the Illusive Man really that…well, what's the word? Ungrateful of the people who help him? Did he really need to send John on a mission like that?" Linda asked, sitting on the opposite side of the room of where Garrus was.

"Basically," Shepard muttered. "John's your leader, right? The Illusive Man knows it came down to him whether or not to help us, and if John decided differently…the Illusive Man needed to make sure I guess. Don't agree with it, don't get me wrong, but he didn't get where he is now without…_making sure of things._"

"That's the Illusive Man for you," Jacob said, leaning back in an armchair. "He'll help you as long as it's at humanity's best interests, stem any further, like helping Tali as John did, and he'll grow suspicious."

"Wouldn't he have cameras all over the ship?" Kelly realised, wondering if they were being listened to. She glanced all around the room, admiring what it had to offer.

"Probably, but I disabled them…hopefully," Shepard stated sheepishly. It offered him a sarcastic slow clap from everyone. He waved them down. Standing up, he looked around at them all, smiling slightly. The Chief realised the man was a born leader, maybe even more than him, in just the way he talked or walked around them. It instilled confidence. Even in the Spartans, who were usually jumpy on Spaceships.

"Let's get back to work, keep researching upgrades for the attack on the Collector base. See if we can find anything new to add to the Normandy. We'll be hunting for minerals for a good while, so I also want a weapons and armour check before our next mission. Get going."

* * *

Garrus sat calibrating, as per usual, the big Thanix Gun in the main cannon room of the Normandy, where he always was. He was a bit distracted with recent events, and so didn't realise he was putting solder towards his fingers.

"ARGH!" He yelped, as he rubbed the burn of his fingers. He knew what was bugging him, but he didn't bother to try and fix it. Bad idea. He had already pissed her off enough. What was he thinking, giving her ryncol? The Spartans had told him they weren't good in those situations, and he had pumped her full of alcohol. He regretted it. That's when he heard a knock at the door.

It was Linda, wearing combat trousers and a tank top. Although large and strong like every Spartan, it was obvious she had a more…_curvy_ physique, if that was an appropriate word. She was the same size as Garrus without her armour, and Garrus was tall. With her armour, she would loom another foot and a half over him.

"Linda! Good to see you again. I was just-."

"Can it Vakarian," she demanded, and he knew she was in no mood for small talk.

"Is this about-."

"Yes. Yes it is."

"Look, I-."

"You didn't know what would happen and you were as drunk as I was. It's alright."

He was taken aback by this. She had just waltzed in here, and said it was alright? Something was up. You didn't just ignore someone for the greater part of a day and then say it was all hunky dory.

"Don't look at me like that! You're my friend!" She scowled, making it sound more like a demand than a gratitude. "We made a mistake, and I'd rather not repeat it. You…you're a good person," she said awkwardly, looking at the floor. "I'd be annoyed if I spent the rest of this _mission_ scowling and glaring at you."

He nodded, slightly dumbfounded by the whole situation.

"I…alright. Fair enough."

"I'm glad we sorted that out," she said, heading towards the door.

"But you should know," she said, stopping by the door, a playful half-smile on her face. "You weren't that bad."

And with that, she left.

* * *

"No, it's just, the tradition sometimes symbolises, the uh, wanting to have…_sex_ with another," Tali muttered awkwardly to Shepard. John and Kelly sat in the shuttle bay as this was happening, listening to the comms feed that Engineer Donnelly fed through to them.

"Don't even know how you _would_ do have sex with a Quarian," Kelly said nonchalantly, as if the thought wasn't much to be even bothered with. "Don't they die from exposure?"

"Not as simple as that Kelly," the Chief sighed, inspecting his armour again. It was what he did most of the time these past few days, while the other Spartans were enjoying the perks of being an unknown quality of the Universe. Being seen as _normal_, even if normal was a loose term, was a good break for the Spartan team. They deserved a break.

"Uh-huh, still…" she muttered, gazing over her rifle as she slotted in a clip. "Still, you'd think it would be easier than what is apparently 'A fuckton of antibodies' as the Quarian I met on the citadel put it."

"You'd think that wouldn't you? Hell, maybe this Universe isn't so perfect with their specie relationships after all. We could still use a few pointers to be perfectly honest."

* * *

The shuttle flew away, Shepard's entire team on it as they flew towards Omega. Something about Samara and a dangerous mission. The Spartans stayed on the ship, looking over weapons. There was one on each floor, except Shepard's cabin, and they all walked about interacting with other marines. The Chief was talking to Joker, who was explaining why Shepard had taken the full team.

"…so the Reaper IFF is installed, but it's not exactly safe yet. We don't want to risk the Normandy, so they're taking the shuttle. Simple."

"But wouldn't that leave the ship defenceless?"

"C'mon, we've you Spartans, right? Gods of war and all that stuff. Besides, we should be hidden."

"Joker, alert. It appears we are transmitting the location of the Normandy. I cannot seem to stop the signal," the voice of EDI reported.

"You can't be serious," Joker replied, interrupting his conversation with the Spartan. "Who are we transmitting to?"

There was a slight puff in the area of space, a slight rupture if you may, as the massive ship of the Collectors stormed into view. It looked like it was a combination of several ships, all embedded into an asteroid. It was a massive stockpile of all they could muster by the looks of it, and it looked pretty deadly. Which is why John gripped the chair.

"Get us out of here!" He yelled.

"I am detecting a virus in the computer Spartan, we have no access to propulsion systems. We are stuck."

"From the IFF? Dammit, why didn't you scrub it…"

"Primary defence systems are offline. We can save the Normandy, but you must help me Mr. Moreau."

The sound of boarding tubes to the Normandy could be heard, as throughout the ship, crewmembers picked up weapons. Fred found a nasty looking shotgun, and grabbed a few thermal clips just in case. Kelly managed to have her MA5B on her, while Linda picked up a Viper sniper rifle from Garrus' living area, taking up aim in the long corridor.

"You must give me the ship."

"WHAT?" Joker exclaimed, becoming panicky. "You must be crazy!"

"We don't have any time Joker," John cut in, brandishing a Predator pistol he was carrying.

"If you unlock my seal databases, I can initiate countermeasures…"

She continued on like this, but the Chief was already away, running towards the elevator. He knew Joker would need to get off this floor, but was surprised to see three crewmembers taking aim at the door. Joker ran up beside the Chief, and looked horrified as the elevator doors opened.

"PRAETORIAN!" Yelled one of the crewmembers firing a burst from the M8-Avenger. It charged at him, but was stunned by a concussive blast from another. As it turned towards the second crewmember, a large bulk slammed into it.

It was Kelly, wearing her Spartan armour.

"Kelly!" John said, but she was still fighting. She threw a left hook at the thing, digging through the biotic barriers, not quite taking them down. It shot twin laser beams from its eyes, impacting the Spartan in the chest. Her shields went down, smoke shimmering off the armour as her foot slammed into the face region of the Praetorian. The Praetorian's shields dropped, as she fired a clip of her MA5B into its face, wounding the thing enough for that a crewmember could shoot it in the head. The three crewmembers ran towards the lift, which closed in front of them.

"They must have called it down!" One yelled, slamming his rifle on the doors. Kelly turned to John, her gold faceplate staring right at him. He knew what she was going to do before she bothered to try and tell him. She nodded, walking towards the elevator.

"Joker," the Chief said. "Find another way to the AI core. I'll meet you there." He began walking after Kelly.

"There's…there's a ventilation shaft in Mordin's lab! But how will you get down?"

Kelly ripped open the doors of the elevator, staring down at the descending elevator. She turned to John, who had holstered his pistol and was looking over the edge.

"We'll be taking the quick route. Not recommended. The rest of you, hold the bridge!"

With that, they both jumped.

* * *

It wasn't a big jump, only around ten to fifteen meters. Not for a Spartan anyway. They crashed through the roof of the elevator, spinning around to see what targets were there. There was a Scion, and two collector troops. They all stood shocked for a second, as John went for the first Troop. Taking out his pistol, he grabbed the Collector and chucked it against the wall. Finishing it off with a shot to the head, he turned to the other one, which raised a rifle similar in design to the Collector ship they had seen. John kicked the rifle out of the thing's hands, and shot it in the face several times. He turned around to see Kelly finishing off the Scion, purple blood on her MJLONIR armour.

There was a frightened crewmember on the ground, which they left there, and both ventured out into the corridor. Crewmember Hawthorne was attempting to protect Joker, but ran into the pathway of a Scion. Two shots from John's pistol got its attention, as Kelly slammed into it, taking it to a different part of the ship. John approached Joker.

"AI core. Need to get there," Joker panted, out of breath.

"Alright, let's move."

* * *

Fred's day had gotten shit as soon as the enemies had started pouring through holes they made in engineering. By now, everyone had some sort of helmet or oxygen mask on, and everyone was hiding behind the large Spartan in MJOLNIR armour, wielding a Katana shotgun like it was a toy. In one hand was the shotgun, in the other an MA5B.

He fired the shotgun again, impacting a Collector trooper in the chest, knocking it over. It struggled to get back up, but was shot by a nearby Crewmember. A scion kept trying to get closer, held back by a barrage of M8-Avengers everytime it walked through one of the holes. They wouldn't be able to hold out forever, but Fred was determined to at least piss them off. His shields shimmered again as another shot from a particle beam impacted on him, forcing him to get into cover. His shields were down to twenty-five percent, and he was running low on ammo.

That's when the elevator dinged open, and he was joined by John, Kelly, Linda and Joker. Joker looked around, watching as enemies flooded into engineering as the crewmembers desperately tried to hold them off. Linda fired a shot at a nearby abomination, causing it to explode, killing a trooper beside it.

"Chief! Glad you could join us!" Fred said, smiling as another volley of bullets flew over his head. John crouched down beside him, as he and Linda did not have their armour at the moment. Joker ran over to a console, yelling at something that Fred could not hear. He did the signal for 'everything OK?'

John nodded, firing a couple of rounds with his pistol. "We need to hold them off. If we can just cut off their reinforcements-."

That was when the ship went black, and the Spartans fell to the floor in the darkness.

* * *

John woke up to the smell of a clean room, and medicine, and immediately gagged at the stench. He sat up straighter, and looked straight into the eyes of Dr. Chakwas.

"You had a rough fall John," she said, looking over a datapad. "You hit your head violently on the edge of a bulkhead, knocking you unconscious. Thanks to you, and your Spartans, we managed to protect the ship and make an FTL jump away from the Collector ship. The remaining Collectors on-board were easily eliminated.

"Any casualties?" He croaked. She bit her lip.

"Crewmember Hadley was shot in the chest after you left the bridge. The bridge was held, and the other two crewmembers survived, but he died. I'm sorry."

"Don't be," the Chief replied, lying back down in the med-bay's bed. "Not your fault."

"Do you need anything else? Shepard will be on his way back once Joker sends him the news."

"Nothing else Doctor. Nothing else."

_Can you bring a man back to life?_


	9. Chapter 9: We Are Unique

**(Bloody hell, an update? What force of hell of this? Took me ages due to work and social shite. BUT IT'S BACK! Sorry about the Chapter being small and everything guys, writer's block, it was hard enough to write this as it was, nevermind make it as long as the last two chapters. Also, ten thousand views! *confetti*)**

Chapter 9: We Are Unique

"So you had to kill her?" Was Kelly's opening line to her conversation with Samara that night. Samara was awfully quiet, not the usual Samara, who would at least open up her thoughts with you, who would share her opinions and views. This Samara refused to turn, and whose eyes remained a steady stare at the window into space.

"Yes. Not something I'm proud of but-."

"The Code demanded it?" Kelly finished, her arms crossed.

"Yes. It…it is my life. I have to follow it, lest I fall back upon my mistakes of youth. My mistakes were the reason why my daughter had to die today, and are the reason why I sit before you, spilling my pleads."

_She's awfully poetic when she's sad_, Kelly thought, gazing at the view. It was amazing, she had to admit. Pure black amongst the crystalline stars that shone, and even here she knew they were just light from millions, maybe billions, of years ago, and that she could jump across the galaxy in the blink of an eye, and see what had been in this Universe. The possibilities were endless, and that just made war all the more likely. Her mind drifting from that subject, she turned to Samara, and realising just what was wrong, smiled intensively.

"What was Morinth like, Samara?"

"She was always the wildest…"

* * *

"I can't thank you enough John. I didn't expect an attack of this magnitude on the ship," Shepard started, shaking the man's hand. John was still recovering from the nasty concussion he had. Turns out, when the ship shifted into FTL, he had whacked his head off a Collector rifle, knocking him out. He wasn't in armour, so he was lucky not to have landed beside the trigger on the weapon.

"It was the least we could do Commander. You can count on Blue Team," he said, releasing his hand from Shepard's grip. Miranda and Jacob were also in the room, and both had their own reports to show. Jacob was first, approaching the Chief.

"We found a way to manufacture the same ammunition as your rifles, more or less. Mordin created a design and I called up a few contacts. The Illusive Man's agreed to fund them to get you the ammunition you need," Jacob finished, handing the datapad to the Chief. The bullets were basically the same, apart from the need to implement some sort of way to fit them into the clips the Spartans had custom designed. It was finished that the bullets needed to be slightly smaller, but the bullets for Linda's sniper rifle could remain the main size. There was that at the very least. John would take any advantage he could. He could also see that Shepard was a lot happier. Everyone could guess why.

"Shepard, I talked to EDI and we agreed to shut down the Reaper IFF until we go through the Omega 4 relay. It's ready to be activated at any time, and EDI will be on constant alert now that she's…_unshackled_," Miranda said, scowling at the last word. She disapproved. "No more viruses at the very least. We have time to build up our team, and I'd recommend we take a look at the Geth unit we recovered. I suggest we ship it back to Cerberus for study," she concluded.

John cut in. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, we risked our lives for this thing, just to send it back for study? I don't like the sound of that," he said, placing a hand on the table. "We should at least investigate it first. Turn it on, see what it does."

"And endanger the ship?" Jacob scowled. "No, we should just chuck this thing out the airlock, done and dusted. No need to cause anymore damage when it starts shooting the place up."

"What about the damn scientific benefits? No-one has ever recovered a live Geth for study. Do you realise what we could learn from it?"

"We'll activate it first," Shepard finally interrupted, his hands on the table. "See what it says. The least we can is that. Tell EDI to get ready in case it tries something. I'll be going down to talk to it now."

* * *

The Master Chief walked with Shepard down to where the Geth was being stored. John was in full armour, walking along. They both reached the med-bay, staring at the door for several seconds as the Master Chief sighed.

"I agree with what we're doing here…but I still think we could be more prepared," he said, cradling the barrel of his MA5B assault rifle. Shepard still wondered how anyone could look so impassive, with his armour or without it, and right now, that was with it. He stood taller than the rest of the crew by a good head, and barely passed through the doors to each room.

"That's why I brought you along," Shepard replied, passing into the AI core, where two guards and a shield were guarding the Geth.

"Get ready. We're bringing the Geth back online," Shepard said, as the marine saluted and walked slowly backwards, his weapon raised. Shepard keyed in the necessary codes, watching with slight amusement as the Geth stood up. It was the same black colour as most Geth, with visible wires running across its body, and a red streak across its chest. With slight horror, Shepard recognised the N7 symbol. He'd ask it later.

"Can you understand us?" Shepard said, gesturing to himself and John.

"Yes," it replied, its voice vibrating lightly, giving the illusion of multiple voices.

"Are you going to attack me?" Shepard asked warily.

"No," it replied, its mechanical calmness so clear in its voice.

"That's not what all the other Geth said," The Chief muttered.

The Geth looked at him, the areas around its eyes moving upwards. "You have not met us." The Geth was transfixed on the Spartan, apparently running the armour through its databases as fast as light, frustrated by the lack of results.

"We meant the other Geth."

"We are all Geth, and we have not met you. You are Shepard, Alliance Commander, destroyer of the heretics, killed by Collectors, rediscovered on the Old Machine," the Geth said, as if reading off a report.

"The Old Machine-."

"Commander, with all due respect, we should get along now. We need to know more about this thing," the Chief cut in, his body language showing annoyance and impatience.

"Alright, good thinking. Tell me, what is your name?"

The Geth paused. It stared blankly at the floor, not responding. For a second, it looked like it might have blown a fuse of some sort. Then its eye shot up, and it spoke.

"We are Geth."

"No, what is _your_ name."

"We are Geth."

"What is the name of the individual standing in front of me?"

"There is no individual. We are Geth."

_Oh for fuck's sake…_ The Chief thought, gazing at the Geth. The thing was smart, but by the looks of things, not particularly bright. Apart from the lightbulb.

EDI appeared, floating in mid-air. "My name is Legion, for we are many," she said, giving Shepard the response of 'That seems appropriate' and the Spartan nodding ever so slightly.

The Geth paused, looking intrigued from the body language that seemed to only be apparent from the small manoeuvrable points on its head/neck. "Christian Bible, Gospel of Mark, Chapter 5, Verse 9…we acknowledge, this is an appropriate metaphor. We are Legion, a terminal of the Geth. We wish to help you."

"You do?" Shepard said with mild puzzlement, as the Master Chief just shrugged.

"Yes. We have mutual gains. Stopping the Collectors goes towards stopping the Old Machines and the heretics," Legion said, his eyes glowing brighter. "Will you accept us?"

"You want to join my team?" Shepard said, gazing at the Chief for help. The Chief gave a brief nod. So at least he could say the Chief bullied him into it. Hehehe. Shepard turned back to the Geth, and smiled lightly at Legion.

"Welcome to the Normandy Legion," was his only response as he extended his hand. Legion stared at it for a few seconds, slowly extending his own. They clasped together, cold metal meeting warm flesh. What Shepard didn't realise was that Legion was recording the entire exchange, noting it down in Geth history as a defining moment that had never truly occurred with Geth and organics.

A peaceful exchange.

The Chief smiled, muttering under his breath.

"Tali's gonna be pissed."

* * *

Tali was pissed.

"A Geth Shepard! You can't be serious! I mean, Cerberus, but this? They can't be trusted! You can't expect it to live up to its promise-jfjwhwiuhf-."

She realised Shepard had placed a hand on her speaker and had stopped talking, noting the sounds of gibberish. She swatted his hand away, placing one on the approximate location of her forehead.

"Keelah…really Shepard? A _Geth? A Geth with a name?!" _She added, looking pretty pissed off in his cabin. He stood up and grabbed her arm as she paced about, looking her dead in the eyes.

"It changes nothing Tali, alright? There's nothing to worry about. It's still the same mission, it's still the same pros and cons…it's still you and me, you know that right?"

That made her stop. She stared hard at him, his fists clenched. The death of her father was still raw in her mind, and that was obvious from the way she was treating the Geth arrival. Usually it'd be the occasional moan, or the annoyed grunt of disapproval. This was pent-up.

"So help me…fine. Just keep it out of my way…please."

"Don't worry Tali. Besides, if something does happen to it, you can be happy about that, right?"


	10. Chapter 10: An Eye For A Lost Cause

**(Phew! This has taken long enough, hasn't it? Although it's not the longest, it's got some of the best writing in it so far. Also, who would like me to do a remake of chapter one? It wasn't a good chapter, so I'd figure it might be good to give this fanfic the opening it truly deserves. Twenty thousand words, 11,000 views! Thanks guys for all the support.)**

Chapter 10: An Eye For A Lost Cause

The shuttle pulled in lazily to the citadel, its weight lessening as the three heavily armoured figures strode out in confidence, walking towards the entrance to Zakera Ward, getting looks from all around them. Some whispered the name of the leading figure, others stared at the alien. Most stared at the giant in green and golden armour, proudly puffing out her chest as they walked. The three entered through the doors, passing the security checkpoint with ease. Garrus was the first to speak up.

"Thanks for coming along Linda. We can use an extra pair of eyes," he said, glancing around. She had only basic information about the mission, and so, was inclined to believe that Garrus had a personal agenda that needed solved. It seemed reasonable enough. Garrus had a bad history from the stories he told Linda.

"This looks like the place," he finally said, after they had walked for a few minutes. "The forger's men should be inside." It wasn't an amazing place, just a door set into a wall in a cuboid like fashion, with some crates out in front. Most likely storage Linda assumed, but she had been wrong before.

When they entered, her suspicions arose. The area was mostly crates, with a flat open space in the middle. Leaning on two different sets of crates were two Krogan, both of which wearing light clothing. They both got up, walking towards the group. A Volus emerged from the shadows, walking with a confident step. Shepard spoke first.

"Fade? Not exactly how I imagined you," she said in a patronising tone.

"Looks can be deceiving," he countered.

"Know that feeling," Linda murmured.

"So, which one of you wants to disappear?"

"I'd rather see you make someone reappear."

"Uh…that's not the service we provide."

Garrus and Shepard drew their guns, and Linda cracked her neck. The Krogan drew their own as Garrus snarled. "Make an exception."

The Volus backed off slowly, raising his hands.

"Just this once," Garrus finished.

"Quick, shoot them, shoot them you lumbering mountains!" The Volus yelled at the Krogan.

Linda appeared behind the Krogan, brandishing an Executioner pistol. She looked at the handle absent minded, as the Krogan shrugged and began to walk away. The Volus threw his arms up in annoyance.

"What? Just like that? What's the point in hiring protection if they won't even protect you…?"

As Garrus continued interrogating the Volus, Linda left the room. She waited at the entrance; ignoring the stares at her while she stood quietly in her MJOLNIR armour. At one point, a C-Sec officer walked towards her, before walking away again. She smirked. The Citadel was busy at this time, with families and single people going around their everyday shopping. It felt weird to watch them, when had she seen others like this? Not for a long time. Before she was accepted into the Spartan program. She only had flashes of her childhood, but she remembered it as a happy time. As a time of peace. But she was glad to be taken. She knew her homeworld was glassed. She knew she would have been as dead as all the others had she not been selected. Why her? That was a question the Chief always raised during their rest. During R&R.

_"Why were we selected Spartans? C'mon Linda, you know the answer."_

_"Because we're the best Chief."_

_"Wrong. We're lucky. Spartans don't rely on luck, we make our own. We made this our own reality, and the Covenant are going to be pissed to realise we volunteered."_

It was only recently she realised he didn't mean they volunteered as in sign up, he meant they volunteered by creating the luck that got them picked. They got themselves noticed, and they made sure it was them leading the charge. That was a Spartan's job. Fight. How they survived was determined by them alone.

Her thoughts were broken by Garrus and Shepard exiting the building. Garrus looked pretty pissed off, and she felt a pang of regret. She didn't usually see him this angry. The mission was serious to him. As Shepard walked to the car, she gripped his arm lightly, and he gave a small nod in return. He was saying he was alright. Universal language, but…a child could see he was eager to kill someone.

* * *

They ran from cover to cover, dodging fire from Mechs, exchanging blows as Garrus ran straight for the open area near Fade. Linda fired another round from her sniper rifle, impacting a Mech in the chest, watching as the circuits blew up in a frenzy of sparks and fire. Garrus fired two shots from his avenger as the nearest Mech fired back, hitting him in the leg. He fell over, rolling into cover to hide from any further blows. Shepard ran to him, as Linda provided covering fire.

That was when the YMIR Mech arrived.

The thing was taller than Linda, and had more ordnance. That didn't stop her from running at it full pelt, rolling out of the pathway of a missile it fired. She could see another one inbound, and a crazy idea took place. She ran to the first one, rolling under its arm, hitting the joint with her fist. Knocking the arm away, she watched as the missile hit the second mech. She then proceeded to kick the first one backwards, chucking a grenade at the now weakened arm. She jumped as the ammunition inside of it caught fire and exploded, a piece of shrapnel impacting the other mech. She drew her pistol, firing the one round of the Executioner at the Mech, causing it to buckle from the impact, exploding in a shower of parts, sparks and fire. She walked over to Shepard and Garrus as Harkin started stammering over the ceiling speakers.

"N-n-n-no! How did she do that goddammit?" He muttered, sounding fearful.

* * *

They approached the door to the control room, which he had locked, Linda strode up to it, kicking down the door with her leg, watching as Harkin almost tripped up on the floor. He gazed in fear at the gold visor, gulping as he made a run for it. He was about to make a snarky remark before he felt a vice-like grip on his shoulder, and turned to see the Spartan. She picked him up, slamming him against the wall, just lightly enough to jostle him. He froze on the spot as Garrus approached him.

"C-c-c'mon Garrus, we can work this out," Harkin said, sweating as Linda watched him impassively. "What do you need?" He managed, not taking his eyes off the massive giant.

"I'm looking for Sidonis," Garrus growled, scoffing at the cowering ex-officer.

"Well then, looks like we both have something the other one wants," Harkin replied smugly.

His grin disappeared as Garrus rounded on him, but Linda pushed out a forceful hand. She shook her head slightly, indicating that if Harkin stepped out of line, she'd stop. Garrus obviously disagreed, but he wasn't in the mood for sparring with Linda, so he shut up and looked at Harkin again.

"You helped a friend of mine disappear, I need to track him down."

"I'll need some more information than that," Harkin replied glumly.

"His name is Sidonis, Turian, came from-."

For the first time, it seemed like Harkin tried to struggle against the Spartan's grip. He looked paler and a bit more determined about the topic of Sidonis. "I know who he is and I'm not telling you squat!" He stated, looking down.

"C'mon Sidonis, it doesn't have to be like this…" Shepard said slowly.

"I'm not giving out client information-."

Linda slapped him. It was light by Spartan standards, but it looked pretty painful. That woke Harkin up. He remembered he was being held by a 6-7 feet tall walking tank, and tried to make up for it.

"Alright, alright…look, I can set up a meeting with Sidonis. Just, please let me go."

Linda did so, and watched as Harkin approached a nearby terminal. The three of them stood idly as he talked into the screen, having a conversation with what must have been Sidonis. She watched him idly, but her eyes drifted to Garrus, who was brandishing his pistol, and looking at Harkin with murderous intent. Why? Surely, with the way things work with Shepard, he'd realise that he shouldn't kill Sidonis. Linda placed her hand on his arm, pulling the pistol down. If he shot Harkin, she knew it would be on his conscience later.

Harkin approached them again, grabbing his shoulder where the Spartan had gripped him. He rubbed it awkwardly, as if it hurt. "The meeting's all set up. You can head down there now, Orbital Lounge, middle of the day. And if uh, our business is done now…"

Garrus clenched his fist, and nodded. Harkin immediately started running away, probably hoping to never see the armoured giant ever again. Linda gave Garrus a nod, but he didn't return it. She knew what part of the mission this was now.

Assassination.

* * *

"Food has no taste. Some days, I just want it to be over."

Garrus fumed silently, watching as Shepard tried to block the shot, Linda was beside Garrus, watching intently. She could tell he would do it. He was going to do it. His finger on the trigger and all, she could see him conflicting with the decision. Knowing he would do it or he wouldn't. A Choice. A decision. An eye for an eye.

She took off her helmet and gently pulled the sniper away from its aim, much to his surprise. He stared at her hard, eyes full with grief and pain at the man who took away what he cared for. His men. His responsibility.

"Let him go," she whispered, her hand on the barrel.

"He's a damn coward," he sobbed, his voice breaking slightly. "Why should he live?"

"He's a dead man walking. You can hear him. He doesn't care anymore. He can't."

"An eye for an eye Linda. An eye for an eye! He doesn't deserve the right to live, the right he took away from my men."

Linda stroked a hand against his face, which he found himself slightly frozen to. He just lay there, watching as Shepard waited for his response. Shepard. His friend. His drinking buddy, stopping his shot. Shepard knew Garrus the most, was he right about blocking the shot?

"C'mon Vakarian. It's not an eye for an eye. That's revenge. That's tipping the scales. This? This is just making things worse for yourself. In the end, everything will be weighed against you. A lost cause."

He nodded slowly, taking his hands away from the rifle. Linda keyed her comm as Garrus sat against the wall behind him, head in his hands.

"Shepard, it's alright. Sidonis can go now."

"What did you say to him?"

"What he needed to hear."

She sat down next to him, her hands clutching each other, as Garrus had both of his on his face. He looked up, with what looked like recognition in his eyes. He looked over at Linda, and managed a weak croak.

"I don't regret the night on the citadel. I think it got me closer to you," he managed.

"And how's that?" She replied, confused at his statement.

"You said it yourself. An eye for an eye. You owed me one from the Reaper IFF mission, remember? Believe it or not…you just payed me back."


	11. Chapter 11: A Reunited Hope

**(THIS TOOK AGES! I believe this might just be my favourite chapter yet! Absolutely love it. Also, I have a poll for you guys, if you're up for it. The first one is, should I redo the first chapter? I wasn't very proud of it, and I'd like to get more support for the series by redoing it. Considering how long these take me, this will extend the usual wait time for the next chapter. Also, what has your favourite chapter been this far? Whatever chapter is the most loved, I'll start modelling any chapters after it, to increase the quality of my story. Also, all new updates to the story between chapters will be posted in the review section, so if a new review is up but no new chapter, it's probably me. Anyway guys, thanks for waiting!)**

Chapter 11: A Reunited Hope

Back-To-Back. Scanning the room. One raising her hand in a swift motion, the other drifting silently to the other side of the room. The second drew a thin, square item off of her belt, typing in a couple of codes as the doors swung open with a light hiss, highlighting the room in front of them in a sick, green colour as the emergency lights flashed on, sending a scurry of the rats scattering in the area. The first woman moved forward, her heavy armour not making a sound as the second crept along the far wall, her pistol scanning the far edges. Two guards emerged from the door, being dropped quickly by two silent puffs as the first woman shot. The second woman proceeded to approach the door, and eventually took off her mask, approaching the first.

"I believe we've set off an alarm," noted the calm voice of Samara, rippling with blue streaks.

"Son of a…" Kelly muttered, reloading her silenced pistol. She was sure they didn't notice them.

"There must be an extra camera we missed. We still need to continue nonetheless."

"Agreed."

The mercenary base was quite large, but their objective was simple: Overload the power generators, send the place into blackness so the Illusive Man could easily bypass the cyber-defences of the mercenaries. Weirdly enough, they seemed to be quite advanced, which led Kelly and Samara to their secondary objective, which they were in the moment of doing, finding out how they got a hold of such advanced anti-hacking software. It could be implemented into the Normandy. Even Cerberus, although Shepard seemed pretty annoyed about that last part.

Moving on, they had learned that although the lights were off, it didn't stop the emergency lighting and emergency procedures was happening, and caused the Blood Pack mercenaries to go into a frenzy of preparation, protecting the more essential parts of their equipment. Luckily, the one thing they didn't think precious was what protected them. Too busy guarding their missiles and tanks and all that crap. There were a couple of Vorcha still guarding this equipment, but they were easy enough. Now that the alarm had been sounded, they'd probably be dealing with Krogan soon enough…

So Kelly and Samara advanced slowly, waiting for anything to approach through the corridor. At the other end, they could see two Krogan and four Vorcha. Kelly unslung the missile launcher she and found on the Normandy slower, and…well, at least she hoped it was a missile launcher. She didn't understand why it needed charging up. Or why it was glowing…or-.

A large pulse of energy emerged from the weapon, slamming into the small group of enemies. She felt the kickback from the weapon slamming into her arm and knocking her off balance as the Blood Pack infantry were decimated under the blast of energy. Samara ran over to her, smiling slightly. She helped Kelly up, who stood an easy head over her with her MJOLNIR armour on. Samara pointed to the weapon.

"That's the M-90 Cain. Basically a mini-nuke gun. It seems you may have selected the wrong weapon when leaving the Normandy, I'm guessing you were aiming for a missile launcher?"

Stubbornly, Kelly nodded. Next time she'd ask about the weapon. They continued down the corridor, watching as their shadows drifted quietly over the blinking red emergency lights that highlighted the long floor. Samara's armour turned into a dark mixture of red and blue, purple to anyone at a distance, but a mixture of the two swirling colours up closer. Kelly's was a sickly looking mixture of red and green, and looked like blood stained with grass. Neither combination was especially good for camouflage, so sneaking was out of the question by now. Still, they pressed on, the never ending sound of klaxons blasting emergency protocols and alarms around them.

Taking the next turn, they found themselves facing a large, heavily bolted door. It had a series of keypads and locks set on it, each one requiring voice recognition, keycodes and several other pieces of equipment and information to get past. Samara approached the door. She held up her omni-tool, scanning it slowly over the metal frame. Kelly watched behind them. The Illusive Man had installed his best decoding software into Samara's omni-tool, and it was working on the door as Kelly looked over the hallway. Samara continued tapping in codes and other information necessary for the door to be opened with.

Kelly's heart rate had slowed down and she could hear her own breathing inside her helmet. It sounded obnoxiously loud, and she switched her aim to every shadow or light that moved in front of her vision. The slightest creak or scuttle of equipment caused her to flinch, her HUD reading the movement of machinery around them as blips on her motion tracker, rendering it useless. It was impossible for anyone to see anything out of the ordinary, and she struggled to keep a cool head as needed.

"How long left?" She called over.

"Around five minutes. The door is mostly hardware locks connected to electrical pulses, so the anti-hack software can't protect it. There are five different areas on the door, each of them containing a deadlock trap set to cause the door to shut down on its hinges. If that happens, we'll need a nuke to get through this door," Samara replied, typing the occasional string of numbers.

"So…slow and steady?"

_"Very slow and steady,"_ was the reply.

Two minutes later, nothing had changed and Kelly was inspecting a clip of the new ammunition brought in by Jacob and Mordin. To compensate for the smaller bullet size, the ammunition had a small electrical pulse embedded into the ammo, causing a small EMP every time it hit, knocking out less critical systems on armour, like shielding on armoured areas. Every little helped she supposed. Each Spartan had had a pistol equipped during the crash, but Kelly had the only silencer. An ODST special operative designed pistol with explosive rounds. The Spartans were costing the Illusive Man a lot of money for their requirements, but they were showing results, and that was all that mattered.

She was broken out of her dazed thoughts by the sound of heavy stomping throughout the corridor. She grabbed her rifle, aiming it downwards as Samara looked back over her shoulder. Cursing, she hid behind a crate as the omni-tool continued deciphering the code. She couldn't shoot with her omni-tool deciphering; it might throw off the hacking. Kelly fired a small burst as the first silhouette rounded the corner, the sound of Krogan yelling as the first one stumbled backwards from the stopping power of the bullets. From the sound of the yelling, there were a lot of them.

Kelly threw a grenade, sprinting as the smoke exploded around the Krogan, they stumbled, confused, as she placed her rifle against the jaw of the first one and held down the trigger. The clip emptied into its jaw, and she slammed the butt of the rifle against a second one, its mouth wide open as its jaw-bones were completely crushed by the sheer force of the rifle impacting. Unfortunately, it also broke the rifle.

She drew her knife, kicking the chest of a third Krogan into a wall, and slamming her elbow into a forth. She dropped a drag grenade, rolling backwards as it exploded between the two. She stood up, but felt only the shoulder of a Krogan slamming her into the wall. Her shields dropped quickly, continuing to drop as the Krogan hammered his fists into her chestplate, stunning her with a heavy punch to her helmet. She felt blood in her mouth but she summoned her strength, headbutting the Krogan as hard as she could, stunning the dinosaur like beast. She jump-kicked it, watching as it smashed through some boxes. It tried to stand up, but barely had time to register the sound of the pistol impacting through its skull.

Two remained, and the first charged the tired-Kelly, who barely had time to notice it, and it knocked her across the room, she stood up shakily, and the Krogan roared, smashing a fist against the wall. Kelly raised her hands weakly, feeling the adrenaline failing in her body. The Krogan took a step forward, along with the second one that raised its jaw.

Kelly had to think quickly. But how could she? She could barely breathe without coughing up blood! There was intense denting in her armour and she lacked the strength to raise her arms. Then, her mind registered it all at once.

_Basically a mini-nuke gun._

She drew it from its space on her back, charging it up before it even left its holster. The Krogans walked forward with a swagger, feeling victory in their clutches. Then they would go and kill the rest of this giant's teammates, because she couldn't have been a part of just one squad, right? But their joy was short lived, as the red blinding light from the M-90 Cain completely annihilated the cells of their body, feeling the absolute power of such a gun destroying their outer and inner biology.

Kelly didn't celebrate however, she felt her consciousness fading as Samara rushed over to her aid. The armour's automatic First-Aid systems kicked in, but they were only able to keep Kelly semi-conscious, and Samara was forced to drag her over to beside the vault door, where she handed Kelly her pistol.

"We're almost done Kelly, just hold on," was the echoing voice of Samara. Samara returned to the vault, watching as the last lock slid out of place. The door opened with a creek, and unbeknownst to them, somewhere out there was the leader of the Blood Pack watching his desk blink in warning lights that the vault had been open, but the leader was too busy winning his earnings from a Vorcha that thought it had enough balls to challenge the Blood Pack leader. All according to plan.

As the door slid open, the room was exposed. It was dark, with a single podium in the middle raise dup about a meter and a half. On it was a small chip glowing a dark orange, bringing the only light from the room that wasn't from the doorway. Samara approached it slowly, Kelly hobbling after her, breathing painfully. But Kelly reached the podium first, because she knew what the chip was. She knew what it represented. She knew how the anti-hacking software had been so powerful, and she now remembered what was missing from the ship they crashed in. The component that should have seen the Slipspace rupture. The piece of equipment that should have warned Fred but chose not to.

The greatest technological advancement of the UNSC.

Samara approached it slowly, watching Kelly pick it up as gently as possible. "Kelly…what the hell is that?"

"This Samara…" Kelly started, but found it hard to say. How did the Blood Pack find it? How did they manage to implement it? "This is Roland. The AI of the UNSC _Infinity_."


	12. Chapter 12: A Choice Between Worlds

Chapter 12: A choice between worlds.

The team, gathered around the room, stood quietly, the only sound being the steady hum of the Normandy's engines. In the centre was a small pedestal, rising up to eye level with most of the crew. The Spartans were a bit taller than it. On the top of the pedestal, sat the small chip, glowing a lightly faded orange, blinking in synchronisation of the breaths of the Commander. He finally cleared his throat, staring at the Chief.

"You knew about this? An AI with technology we don't understand floating around?"

"Negative. Roland must have snuck onto the ship himself Commander."

"It doesn't matter. This could have gone a lot worse if not for the idiocy of the Blood Pack. If they had known this wasn't a simple protection VI…"

After the cyber-defences of the base had fallen, the Illusive Man was able to find out how the Blood Pack had found the AI. While the Spartans were knocked unconscious, hidden from sight using the armour's new emergency protocols systems, the Blood Pack had salvaged the ship, taking with them the AI Roland.

"If they had fully mastered this AI, they would have been able to hack through anything Shepard," Tali noted, looking over the AI. "On the other hand, if this is a…fourth generation AI as you called it, it might be strong enough, or smart enough, to-."

"If you're suggesting hacking the Reapers I seriously doubt it," Garrus interrupted, leaning against the wall. "There's no way it would interact with technology like that. On the other hand, that Collector base would be a hell of a lot less protected with the help of two AIs instead of one. We'd be able to breach almost any defence they had."

Roland was a lot more advanced than EDI in the sense of speaking. Roland however was based off a human mind, while EDI was adapted from a rogue VI recovered from the moon base near Earth. The differences in construction were massively different, but anyone could see the similarities existing within them as well.

"Commander, if I can, Roland is state of the art, even if our Universe he's relatively new, even if the technology used to build him was adapted from previous versions," the Chief supplied. "He's smart enough to even counteract the technology of beings much more advanced than us, and is able to watch over entire fleets if need be at once. There's also one more thing about AIs like him."

"That would be?"

"They can hitch a ride in the MJOLNIR armour," Kelly finished.

"This AI chip you see is the core intelligence of Roland, compressed into one extremely large interface for communicating with the MJOLNIR armour, ships, people and anything the UNSC has a port in or for. He won't work as quickly in there, but he's still armed with the best technology from our Universe. He is an invaluable asset."

"…can we speak to him?" The Commander finally said after a long pause.

The Chief nodded, picking up Roland carefully in his MJOLNIR armour, the only Spartan wearing his as to connect with Roland and slotted Roland into the back of his head. After a few seconds, the holographic projector EDI normally used flashed bright orange, and a small man wearing an aviator's flight suit appeared, shaded in orange.

"Dammit Spartans!" The cheerful voice of Roland spoke out. "It took you long enough to find me. It was hard enough to get into your ship via wireless transmission. I only had a couple of seconds before the goddamn rupture swallowed you all up!"

Kelly and Fred cracked a smile. Roland began glancing around the room, even though it wasn't needed. AIs liked to show off their abilities to look human.

"Well now, according to my calculations, if they are right, which they usually are, we're not in our Universe, are we Chief? Damn, we really need something different than Slipspace, am I right? Might be useful, but, even with those damn new engines, still the chance we're gonna die in an almighty compression."

"Hand on Roland," the Commander interrupted, glancing at the AI, "Did you say, before they jumped? You weren't in the ship?"

"Nope! I did a few calculations, compared them, and saw that the Slipspace portal they were opening was going to collapse. I jumped onto the local AI port and hoped for the best, because, well, we haven't got much heroes left back there," he finished with a happy wink at Linda.

"Then how was there an AI port already in the ship? I'm guessing they're not given to just anyone?" Thane asked, sitting quietly on a railing. Heads turned towards the Chief and the Spartans, but even the Spartans looked confused…except the Chief, wearing his armour.

"It doesn't matter why an AI chip was on the ship, it's not the most pressing of our concerns is it?" He said, his hands tensed. "What we do need to know, is how well Roland can adapt to the technology of this Universe."

"It's fairly simple," Roland replied, eager as Chief was to change the subject. "I read the manuals. The Blood Pack had several for the Vorcha, and it gave me a good idea about how the holographic technology works here. Working on from the basics, it wasn't too long before I got the hang of things. Longer than I'm proud of, but still. I managed to stall for time while the Blood Pack brutally stuffed me into their systems to hope for the best. I was in a standby mode, so my core functions worked only, grabbing information and protecting it. The Blood Pack files you were trying to access weren't theirs, they were mine."

"How long did it take you?" Kelly asked, eager to insult.

"Around two seconds. Not exactly my best record," Roland replied, looking genuinely annoyed with himself. "If I hadn't found all those Asari videos it would have been faster."

"And what does that mean?" Samara asked.

"You race has lovely architecture."

"Alright!" The Commander interrupted, scowling. "Enough small talk. Roland isn't the only reason I called you here today. It…may be time to start the mission. I understand if you wish to leave now, after all we've seen. Your choice is your own, the choice of saving others…or the choice of your own protection. I won't judge you either way."

Looking around, he could see a couple of people shocked. He could see some nervous, some with fire in their eyes. Each one was here for a reason or by accident and chose to stay. Each one had their own motives, and each one was ready to fight for their lives, or the lives of everyone else. Would the plan work? Unknown, but if they didn't, hundreds, thousands, millions of lives would be lost. There was no reason for waiting; there was no need to wait. They were all ready. And with the combined forces of the Spartans and the AI Roland, they had a massive tactical advantage, in cyberspace and in the physical world.

"Well, I'm ready," Grunt called out, smashing his fists together. "You gave me a reason to fight Shepard, a reason to be here today. I'll take every one of those goddamn Collectors to their graves if need be."

"And me Shepard," Garrus continued. "I don't think any of us would be alive if it wasn't for you. You've given up everything, even your life. I think we should do the same for you."

"I haven't known you all very long," said Fred, stepping off the railing. "But I'd follow each and every one of you into a black hole, never mind a place orbiting around it. I'd, _we'd_, lay down our lives to save every single one of you." He gestured to the other Spartans, who nodded in approval. Every person in the room said something, or gestured, to show their support. The support of the greatest men and women the galaxy had to offer, on the most dangerous mission the galaxy had ever seen. Jack yelled in her cocky attitude, Samara quoted the Code, Joker…er, made a joke. Tali simply nodded at Shepard, nothing else needing to be said.

"Alright then," he finally called out. "Get yourselves ready. We go tomorrow, Earth time."

* * *

The lights of Shepard's cabin dimmed lightly. The orange and blue lights streaking across it lit up the room in a mixture with the dark tones of the furniture. He stood, staring at reports that streamed across the datapad of recent attacks by raiders, or new political news, anything to take his mind off the matter at hand. Until he heard the door slide open. Standing at it, was the woman he was most worried about, and yet knew the best.

Tali strode across the room, her hands nervously interlocked. She had wanted to say something, anything, to explain why she had come up here with no music, or something to eat, or anything, but the recent events were all but enough to snuff it out of her. She stood awkwardly, and the stance showed exactly what she had come up for. Shepard took her hand, and let them both fall to the bed…

* * *

The comms beeped, and the holographic projection of the Illusive Man appeared, waiting to hear of Shepard's preparations on the mission. He was largely impressed with how Shepard had managed to cope with the stress of leading the greatest team assembled in years, and was amazed at the quick integration of the Spartans. All things considered, he was looking forward to hearing the results from-.

Garrus?

There was an awkward silence as Garrus rubbed the back of his neck, standing on the holographic podium within the Normandy's communications room. He could feel himself tensing and relaxing continuously, as the Illusive Man stared for a couple of seconds too long at him.

"I was expecting Shepard Garrus-."

"He's uh, busy."

"Doing what?"

"…Tali."

"Oh, OH, oh right. Well then, I'd best be…I'll call back before you go on the mission."

"That would probably be for the best. I'd recommend we never speak of this moment to anyone."

"Completely agreed."

* * *

After the horribly awkward moment, Garrus would be found in the weapons room of the Normandy, calibrating with Linda. Calibrating. Yeah. Samara was found reciting the Code, making sure to remember all that she held dear, as not to forget why she became a Justicar. Jack was carving her initials into the wall of the Normandy, realising that maybe she fitted in here. Grunt was simply punching things, generally Legion, who didn't see anything wrong with Grunt doing CQC practice, as long as his shields didn't falter. Miranda was finishing up some reports, and Jacob was making sure all of the weapons were in working order. Mordin was calculating the odds of survival, and Thane was looking back on his life. Fred and Kelly were enjoying a game of cards and John was reflecting on his career in the hanger bay. Each member preparing for the final charge into what very well might end their lives.

And the best part was.

They welcomed it.

**(12 chapters. 24,675 words. Over 20,000 views. 56 reviews. 85 followers. 43 favourites. A Slipspace Occurrence is one of my two joys that I can say I'm proud of on the internet, the other being my Youtube channel. I really am proud of this story, and I want to thank you all. The final chapter should be done by the end of Summer or early September, if I can get it done. Sorry for the long wait, I've been away for a while on holidays. Also, there WILL be a sequel, no idea for the name yet. It will take place in ME3 WITH…it's own ending. I'll be changing the ending, and I might expand to AFTER the ending. Thanks for reading guys, because the ending to this story will be pretty damn epic.)**


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